Trainer to Huntsman
by Kallerston
Summary: When a Pokémon trainer and his team wind up in Remnant: what adventures will he get up to, how will he adapt and survive, and how much of destiny could he change. A new piece has been added to the game, so... Let's play.
1. Prologue

**Greetings denizens of the internet and welcome to my first ever fanfiction. I have quite a bit of info I'd like to share with you on how I plan to update this story and the future of it but I'll save that until the end of this chapter (well prologue technically). So if anyone happens to enjoy the inner machinations of my mind you should read the info below. But enough stalling I present to you my RWBY x Pokémon crossover 'Trainer to Huntsman' enjoy!**

 **Note:**

 **RWBY is owned by Roosterteeth and Pokémon is owned by Game Freak, please support the official release.**

* * *

 **-Night Time, City of Vale-**

Loud footsteps echo in the empty streets. Most people at this time of night would be fast asleep or hanging around some club, that's what this man wanted to do anyway. His name was Junior and is the owner and bartender at one of Vales seediest and dirtiest night clubs, and currently was running for his life.

 _'_ _Oh God, why did I think it was a good idea lending my men to him.'_ He thought to himself as he ran into an alleyway and found himself facing dead end, forcing him to stop. He panted heavily in place and wiped some of the sweat of his forehead with his sleeve.

Another set of footsteps were heard behind him, Juniors heart skipped a beat and he cautiously turned around. The owner of these footsteps was none other than what many considered Vale's underground crime kingpin; Roman Torchwick.

"Why do you people always run?" Torchwick asked taking a puff of his cigar. "I just wanted to talk to you about some… Compensation after your men couldn't even help me with that job I mentioned."

"Compensation." Junior said annoyed. "You come into my place of work, shoot the ceiling calling out my name, and that's your idea of compen-" Junior stopped talking when Torchwick raised his cane at him.

"Well that's just an occupational hazard in our line of work." Torchwick said as he dropped his cigar and crushed it with his foot. "It's just business."

Torchwicks cane had a sniper lens appear out of it as Torchwick massaged the canes trigger. Junior gulped and raised his arms in front of his face as he prepared for what was about to happen next.

"Excuse me!"

Torchwick and Junior both flinched at the sound of another voice, both looked to see where it was coming from and saw a young boy.

He was in his late teens, but had a round face that made him look a bit younger. His eyes and hair were both brown but his hair was short and brushed neatly to the right. He wore a bright cobalt blue jacket that was grey under his arms and was currently zipped down revealing a plain yellow T-shirt. He also wore blue jeans and a pair of black boots. On his back he was carrying a yellow backpack with black stripes and lots of zipped pockets and finally, he also had a plain grey fedora with a black lining on top of his head.

Torchwick eyed the boy up and sighed.

"Look boy scout." He said in a mocking tone. "Trust me you don't want to get involved and you definitely don't want to stick around and see what happens next."

"Oh, I believe I do." The boy responded. "I can't help it really, ever since I was young I couldn't stand by seeing someone else in trouble. And that man cowering in the corner definitely qualifies."

He gestured towards Junior who looked like he was going to respond but instead just stayed silent in the corner.

"Well you're not wrong. But I don't have time to deal with you, luckily I have people who do." Torchwick snapped his fingers and four figures entered the alleyway: two men and two women. They wore primarily black, had small horns appearing from under their hoods, and alarmingly wore white masks.

"You're working with those White Fang extremists!" Junior exclaimed. "I didn't think you were that insane!"

The four members gritted their teeth and the boy shook his head.

"Look I know this is stressful for you, but please do yourself a favour and shut up. Trust me, I'll get you out of this."

For some reason Junior seemed calmed by his words, either this guy had something up his sleeve or was the biggest idiot this side of Vale. Regardless he was glad he was here.

"All right guys I'll give you all one last chance. Surrender now and we can all pretend this never happened."

The boy placed his backpack on the ground and stood with his arms crossed waiting for an answer. He was met with one of the male White Fang members charging at him with a clenched fist.

"Guess that's my answer then."

The boy pushed the punch to the side and grabbed the members arm, he swivelled himself to the side and used his other hand to grab hold of the members waist. In one swift motion he threw the member over his hip tossing him to the pavement. As the boy turned away the man got back and threw a punch which barely missed the boy. Seeing the failed punch, the boy quickly elbowed the man in the face before swiping his arm to the side striking him across the cheek with a closed fist causing the man to step back. The man readjusted himself as the boy delivered another punch against his jaw making him flinch, before the boy delivered a side thrust kick straight in his gut winding him, making him collapse unable to continue.

The other members saw their comrade get beaten and quickly took out a weapon of some kind. One woman held a dagger, another had a katana and the other male member held a large club. The boys' eyes widened.

"You'll pay for that you human scum!" One of the women said. The three of them started to corner him and Torchwick laughed in the background.

"What's wrong boy scout. Realised your mistake yet?" He taunted.

The boy looked down at his waist and saw six round spheres each roughly the size of a golf ball attached to a brown belt. The top half of the sphere was red and the bottom half was white, each colour separated by a black line in the middle that extended outwards from a white button right in the centre of the front.

 _'_ _Don't say I didn't warn them.'_ The boy thought as he grabbed one from his belt, the White Fang members cautiously stopped after seeing the device in the boys' hands. He pressed the centre button and it grew to the size of a baseball. They braced themselves but none of them could have prepared for what was gonna happen next.

"Come on out pal!" The boy shouted.

He tossed the ball into the air and it exploded into a bright white light blinding everyone around him. When they looked back they were astounded. In front of the boy was a mysterious creature.

It was a large, frog-like humanoid. Its body and legs were dark blue, with single large white bubbles on its legs and arms and white spots over its eyes. On the sides of each of its upper thighs is a light blue, four-pointed star, which resembles a shuriken. Its back feet have two toes, while its front feet have three toes and both feet are webbed. It has a yellow chest and a yellow-and-blue face. It has eyes with white sclera, red irises, and white pupils. A large, projecting dark blue stripe runs down the middle of its head, with projecting light blue stripes in between its large, yellow ears. Its mouth is hidden behind a large, pink tongue that wrapped around its neck and extended outward behind its head.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

The creature took reasonable offence to this.

"Let's get introductions out of the way then." The boy said smugly. "This here is my good pal Greninja. And Greninja… You know what to do."

"Greninja." Greninja said with a grin.

The second male member quickly charged at Greninja and brutally swung his club against it, only for the Pokémon to nimbly avoid it by jumping in the air.

 **"** **Aerial Ace!"** The boy commanded.

Greninja's right foot began to glow light blue and it began falling at great speed leaving a golden trail before delivering a swift kick directly on the members head knocking him out. The member with the dagger went next and attempted to stab Greninja only for Greninja turn around with a blue fist and delivered a swift punch to the abdomen knocking them against the wall. The member was winded but quickly went for another stab, and Greninja quickly grabbed her hand and lifted its leg into the air, delivering a third and final golden slash of aerial ace she collapsed face forward into the ground causing her to drop the knife. Greninja suddenly felt a sharp pain in its back and quickly turned its head to see the final scared member holding a katana. Greninja responded by summoning its own blade made from a dark energy and turned to fight the final member. Meanwhile Junior seeing a chance to escape started to crawl away from his dead end.

 _'_ _Heh. I love this kid.'_ Junior thought. _'Maybe with some persuasion I can get him to work for-'_

Junior suddenly felt his hand getting crushed and looked up to see Torchwick above him with his foot on his hand and the end of his cane in front of his eyes.

"Not today." Torchwick taunted.

Torchwick started pulled the trigger and suddenly felt himself getting shoved to the ground causing his shot to miss. He landed hard and turned to see the boy on top of him.

"Sorry, but I won't let you kill him!" The boy yelled.

"Get off me!" Torchwick retorted.

Torchwick slammed the boy across the face with his canes handle knocking him away.

"Ugh I am so tired of kids ruining my plans."

He looked to see the boy rubbing where he was struck, he looked at Torchwick with annoyance and Torchwick could see that the area was already beginning to bruise.

"Wait a minute…" Torchwick murmured to himself. "Wait a minute!" He said much more enthusiastically. "You don't have aura, do you?"

The boy just stayed silent. And Torchwick began laughing callously.

"Oh wow. I'll give you credit, you've got the spirit of a huntsman in you and you'll die just like one, but come on boy scout, this was stupid don't you think?"

The boy just stayed silent before looking back at Torchwick with a grin.

"Forgetting someone." He hinted.

It took Torchwick a second to get what he meant but by then it was too late. Greninja appeared standing in front of the defeated White Fang members with a blue swirling energy in its front feet.

 **"** **Use Water Shuriken!"**

Greninja quickly threw the attack at Torchwick and it transformed into five blue shuriken's made of water. They flew so fast that Torchwick couldn't even react, each shuriken made contact cutting him and driving him back. Torchwick quickly recovered and shot at Greninja, only for him to block the shot with his arms and visually showing very little damage.

"What the-" Torchwick started to say bewildered.

 **"** **Use Aerial Ace!"**

Greninja jumped quickly at Torchwick and performed a spinning kick launching him against the wall hard before he slumped to the ground. The boy and Greninja looked at each other in victory.

"We did it pal." The boy said patting Greninja on the head.

"Ja." Greninja responded happily.

Torchwick slowly got up and the boy and his creature readied themselves.

"You wouldn't happen to know a girl in red with a scythe, would you?" Torchwick asked in an annoyed tone.

"Can't say that I do." The boy replied. "But I already know I like her."

The boy smirked, Torchwick frowned, Greninja stood with its arm crossed and Junior didn't dare do anything.

"If you turn yourself in now, then I can have Greninja leave the imminent pounding to a minimum."

"Not a chance boy scout! Besides, you're not the only one with close friends."

Suddenly the boy felt a painful blow in the back of the head and got knocked into the wall.

"Greninja!" His companion said panicked.

Greninja got into its fighting stance and saw where the attack came from. What stood in front of Greninja was a young girl with: brown, and pink hair. She also had two different coloured eyes and held an open umbrella.

"Ninja?" Greninja responded.

"Excellent timing as always Neo." Torchwick complemented. "If you wouldn't mind."

Neo nodded and closed her umbrella and projected a thin blade from its tip, she then gestured the young boy and Greninja charged at her in retaliation. Greninja's fists went blue and it started using Aerial Ace. Neo however parried every hit with the golden light not even touching her and made Greninja tumble in front of her, before reopening her umbrella. Greninja regained posture and went at her with its dark blade only for her to shatter when the attack made contact.

"Grenin… Ja?"

Greninja looked around and saw Neo standing next to Torchwick, Torchwick himself giving a salute.

"Greninja."

Greninja put his hands on the blue stars on his legs and got two stars of water, he then put his hands together applying pressure and power before throwing two Water Shuriken's at Neo and Torchwick… Only for them to shatter into millions of pieces when the attack made contact and the two disappeared into the night.

The boy slowly got up clutching the back of his head with his left hand. He scanned the floor before finding his most precious item… His plain grey fedora.

"Phew. Glad I didn't lose you." He said to himself.

He grabbed it and placed it neatly on his head, and removed his left hand. He then looked around and saw that not including himself, only Greninja and a stunned Junior were left standing. The four White Fang members were down for the count.

 _'_ _Greninja really went to town, but that Torchwick guy must have gotten away. Darn it.'_ He thought before patting himself down to try and remove any dirt on him.

"Hey Greninja you doing alright?"

There was no response and the boy was about to check on Junior when…

"I… I…"

The boy looked back at Greninja with a raised brow and Greninja looked at him.

"What just happened?!" Greninja yelled into the night.

"Um Greninja." The boy said sheepishly.

"She shattered! They shattered! They shouldn't have shattered." Greninja interrupted.

"Greninja." They boy said again.

"I couldn't stop them… I couldn't protect you… When you got attacked… I… I…" Greninja trailed off into silence before taking a deep breath.

"Gre-"

"I'm fine." Greninja interrupted again in a much calmer tone. "I'm disappointed but I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"We're not alone Greninja." The boy said slightly annoyed.

Greninja acted confused but then saw Junior on his knees.

"That thing can talk!" Junior cried.

Greninja then facepalmed and groaned.

"I am suuuuuuuch an idiot."

The boy just shrugged.

"It happens, just try not to do it again unless I say its okay. Besides we've got other things to do right now."

The boy started walking to Junior and Junior got himself up.

"Look man, thanks for the save. You know if you want a job then maybe I can hire-"

"Who said I'm here to save you?" The boy said with a sinister tone.

"Excuse me?" Junior replied.

"You're Junior right?" The boy continued. "You own a night club: Bear DJ, Twin girls, Black suit and Red tie dress code."

Junior started to get annoyed.

"Yeah, that sounds like my place. What about it?"

"Oh, it's nothing. But there has been some talk about what your men do on the side."

 _'_ _Oh no.'_ Junior thought.

"Illegal smuggling, 'protection fees', incidents at rival clubs…and as Torchwick said, occasionally lending your men to do someone else's dirty work."

Junior started walking slowly backwards only to bump into Greninja startling him.

"Going somewhere?" Greninja said in a sarcastic tone.

"You may not be as bad as Torchwick but you're still up there, and as long as you're free then who knows who you'll hurt next. And I won't let that continue." The boy told Junior seriously.

Junior ended up getting on his knees with his hands clasped together.

"Oh brother." Greninja commented.

"Please don't kill me." Junior begged. "I know you're a good guy. You're a huntsman right, keep me alive and I can make it worth your while."

"I'm not a huntsman." The boy complained. "And I'm not going to accept some petit bribe."

"Please I'm begging you! I'll do anything!"

"Anything?" Greninja asked with interest.

"Anything!" Junior confirmed.

The boy placed his chin on his fist and thought for a moment.

 _'_ _Alright he took the bluff.'_ He thought. _'Just don't mess this up.'_

"Two things!" The boy demanded.

Junior gulped and Greninja signalled with his front foot to 'turn it down a bit'. The boy cleared his throat.

"Firstly, if you focus only on your bar and no longer delve into some of your more…seedier practices. Then I think there's no harm in leaving you around."

"Oh, thank you!" Junior praised. "Thank you, than-"

"And the second!" The boy interrupted. He paused for a second and breathed outwards nervously. "I am aware that you have some spare rooms in your club for when some of your patrons are too…intoxicated to leave safely. Or if they would prefer to stay with one of their…guests." He said as nicely as possible. "And while I'm here I would prefer-

"Take it!" Junior interrupted.

"Excuse me?" The boy said surprised.

"A room right. You want one, it's all yours you won't even have to pay rent."

Greninja and the boy quickly glanced at each other and both gave sighs of relief.

"Yep, that's all." The boy responded.

"Good, good just one small thing." Junior added suspiciously.

Greninja and the boy ceased up.

 _'_ _Did he call my bluff!'_ He thought alarmingly.

"If I'm keeping you in my place of business, then I'm gonna need a name. And I need your story, who are you guys?" Junior told them.

The boy just smiled in relief.

"Well there's not too much to say. The names Kai; Kai Emblem and he's Greninja over there."

Greninja raised his front foot.

"Sup."

"And as for our story." Kai continued. "… Let's just say we're some unlucky guys who have lost our way and are trying to get it back."

"That it?" Junior asked.

"Pretty much." Greninja answered.

"No wait!" Kai interrupted surprising Greninja and Junior. "Greninja's not my only friend with me."

Kai gestured to the other balls on his belt.

"I'm no huntsman. I'm a Pokémon Trainer!"

* * *

 **And that to those still reading has been the prologue of my first ever fanfiction!**

 ***Crickets Chirping***

 **Wow tough crowd. But back to what I was saying at the top of the page (remember that) I should probably mention that the first two arcs of this story have already been completed. Those being the** ** _'Intro Arc'_** **and the** ** _'Semi-Volume 1 Arc'_** **. I have done this for two reasons:**

 **Firstly it's so that anyone who's dedicated to reading this doesn't have to wait that long for updates. There are thirteen chapters after this one that I will try and post once a week, they're of varying lengths unfortunately but they will mostly be longer in the future.**

 **The second reason is that I don't really know how far this story will go. I have ideas but this isn't the first time I've had a really good idea and then just burned out. Or what if people hate this story, do I really want to be spending so much time and effort into something that people don't want? But I figured that if people do end up liking this and I decide to stop; then I might as well give them a sizable amount for them to enjoy instead of a couple of chapters.**

 **As for when I finish the second arc of posts... Who knows? This may become a hit and I'll start writing again while I'm posting, or this could be a one-hit wonder. Regardless I hope that you, yes you behind the screen. No not that you, you the person next to you. Have I got you? Good! I hope that you have enjoyed and will enjoy the future adventures of Kai and his Pokémon for however long this story lasts. So until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	2. Chapter 1: Petals and embers

**Before I begin I would just like to thank the people who have read the first chapter (prologue technically) and those of you who favorited, followed and even reviewed it. It means a lot so thanks. Wait one last thing, if there are any questions people have, you can post them as a review of this story and as long as it is appropriate I may answer it at the start of the next chapter, like with:**

 **Raptorex:** **Without spoiling too much let's just say that if Kai can appear in Remnant, who knows what else will. And who knows maybe their inclusion will create a 'Beautifly' effect in RWBY's plot. Or I can just be saying this to mislead you and pull a bait and switch into something else. You'll have to keep reading to find out! Mwahahahaha- *cough* *cough* Sorry dry throat.**

 **Enough waiting I proudly present, the official Chapter 1 of my crossover. Please enjoy.**

* * *

 **2 Days Later…**

 **-Afternoon, Beacon Academy-**

Professor Ozpin was sitting in his office, drinking from his signature Vale symbol coffee mug. In front of him were a series of images. One was a news article about how four White Fang members _mysteriously_ ended up in front of a local police station, suffering from injuries of unknown origin. Another was a CCTV image given to him from a close source, showing some poor guy imbedded into a wall. In the background of the image were two dark silhouettes, one was of a young man and the other showed a large creature of sorts. The last image was the clearest; it was a zoomed in photo from a one-week old article. It was a picture of a large group of people crowded around a crime scene, what was interesting was right at the edge it showed the same boy very clearly. You could see his entire body clearly except for his face which was conveniently covered by his hat.

 _'_ _Incredible.' Ozpin thought. 'I don't know who this young man is but in all my years of teaching, I don't think I've seen anything like it.'_ Ozpin closed the images, put his mug down and sighed. _'It's a shame I have to do this, but I need to be sure.'_

A loud ding was heard coming from an elevator placed several feet from his desk, it opened to reveal a young girl. She had short black hair that was a dark red at it's tips, wore a black and red outfit with a _"combat skirt"_ a red hood, and had a pair of shining silver eyes.

"You err, wanted to see me professor?" The girl asked cautiously.

Ozpin smiled "Yes I did Miss Rose, please take a seat."

Ruby slowly made her way to his desk and sat on a nearby chair in front of him.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked.

"Not at all in fact, I have actually called you here to help me with a… Secret mission of sorts." Ozpin replied.

"SECRET MISSION!" Ruby squealed jumping out of her seat. She then quickly sat back down again. "I mean, I appreciate this… Opportunity to… Prove my… My… Amazingness." She said much more professionally.

"Please Miss Rose, we can drop the formalities." Ozpin took another sip from his mug. "Tell me, do you read the news often?"

"Umm…"

"I'll take that as a no then." Ozpin re-opened the holographic images in front of Ruby. "Can you please tell me what you see in front of you miss Rose?"

Ruby squinted at the images trying to find some hidden meaning or secret.

"Are they crime scenes?"

"Some of them are yes. But there is something linking these images together." Ozpin paused letting Ruby take in the information and tried to get her to think. "I believe, that all of these were committed by the same person." Ozpin continued.

"Like a superhero?" Ruby cheerfully commented.

"Vigilante would be more appropriate here. And I believe that this individual needs to be taken in."

"But why?!" Ruby shouted defensively. "Isn't he beating up bad guys and helping people?"

Ozpin closed the images again, before looking more seriously towards Ruby.

"Ruby, do you know what we do here?"

"You train us to become huntsman and huntresses right. Right?"

"Yes, that is correct. However, do you know why we train you, when some individuals as you yourself have shown, are able to perform expertly on their own?"

Ruby sat in thought for a moment twiddling her thumbs as Ozpin anticipated an answer.

"Because the huntsman academies make us stronger and smarter, they teach us to better protect ourselves and others."

"Precisely. So, without that training, it is fair to say from your description that these individuals could end up putting themselves in serious danger and actively endanger the lives of others. Is that correct?"

"I err, I guess you're right." Ruby said realising why this ' _hero'_ needed to be brought in. "What do you want to do with them?" She asked concerned.

Ozpin finished his coffee and placed the mug far away from him.

"I would like to talk to them. To see just why they're doing what they're doing, and to see just how dangerous they really are." Ozpin said before getting out of his chair and walking towards Ruby.

"Thankfully using those images and several other bits of information that I know, I have an accurate idea of where this vigilante might be, but I am going to need someone to help bring them in." Ozpin elaborated and looked directly into Ruby's eyes. "Do you know a certain huntress in training that would suffice?"

Ruby's eyes lit up and Ozpin smiled at her enthusiasm.

* * *

 **-Dusk, Juniors club-**

Several of Juniors men were busy carrying crates around an empty room. The place hadn't opened yet so they needed to prepare for business. One of the men dropped a crate landing with a thud and a clink.

"Hey watch it! That stuffs costs more than your pay!" Junior complained from behind the bar counter.

"Sorry sir. Won't happen again sir." The man quickly apologised before grabbing the crate and hurrying off elsewhere.

"Tsk, can't find good help these days."

There was a loud sound of doors opening and Junior turned his head to the bars entrance where he saw a certain huntress.

"Hello!" Ruby cried out.

"Look lady we're closed. And even if we were open you look too young to drink." Junior stated bitterly. "How did you get in here anyway?"

"Well your guards tried to stop me, but I've dealt with some of them before."

"Some of them before, what do you-"

Junior stopped himself when he quickly realised who this girl was. Based on what he heard on the street this was the same girl that took down his men that were with Torchwick.

 _'_ _Oh crap.'_ He thought to himself.

"So anyway, I'm looking for someone." Ruby carried on. "Involved in some attacks, wears a cool grey hat, know him?"

Junior composed himself and cleared his throat.

"Yeah I err… Hey Kai get down here would ya!"

Junior looked at the girl who had somehow managed to get up to the bar.

 _'_ _If anyone could stop this girl it's gotta be him. But what is going on with kids these days?'_

The sound of a door creaking could be heard from upstairs followed by the sound of footsteps as Kai emerged down a flight of stairs to the side. He was in his normal attire but looked rougher than before: his bruise had become larger but less dark, his eyes were developing bags and there were several whiskers of hair sprouting from random parts of his face.

"Look Junior I've had a rough couple of nights, and yelling really doesn't-" Kai stopped when he noticed the girl in front of the bar but quickly shrugged it off. "So, like I was saying-"

"So you're the guy who's been attacking those people!" Ruby accused.

"… What?" Kai said in response.

"Sorry about this but I've been told to bring you in."

"And if I refuse?"

Ruby pulled a red piece of metal from her waist that quickly unfolded into a very large scythe. Needless to say this woke Kai up.

"Well let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Kai started to say panicked. "Okay yes I did those things but you've got to believe me, I was trying to help people out."

"Really. Huh…" Ruby lowered her weapon and Kai cautiously lowered his hands to his belt.

 _'_ _Why do I get the feeling that bringing him down here was a bad idea?'_ Junior thought as he slowly hid under the counter.

Ruby remained unsure but remembered her conversation earlier with Ozpin on why she needed to bring him in and she raised her weapon once again.

"I'm sorry about this, but until you're taken in you risk hurting innocent people."

Kai sighed. "Well guess this can't be avoided. Nothing personal."

Kai grabbed one of the balls from his belt but before he could throw it Ruby was already in his face with her scythe, she swung it quickly and Kai managed to move back far enough for it to only cut into his cheek, while also throwing the ball in the air. Kai put his hand on the cut feeling it bleeding, Ruby looking at him concerned.

"Hey are you alright?" She asked sympathetically.

 _'_ _I didn't expect to actually hurt him.'_ She thought.

Ruby's thought was interrupted when she was blind sighted and sent flying down onto the dance floor. She slowly got up and looked in disbelief when she saw what hit her.

She was attacked by a large bird resembling a falcon. It plumage was orange with grey underparts and black tips at the end of its wigs. Orange spots covered its underside and flame patterns mark the changes in colour on its body. Large talons extended from shaggy feathers on its legs, and it had a pointed crest on its head. It has a black and yellow beak and mask like colouring around its eyes and had black tail feathers that were marked with two yellow lines to make a 'V-shape'.

"Talonflame!" The bird screeched.

"Whoa." Ruby responded in awe.

Talonflame looked at its master and upon seeing the injury gave a low growl and turned back at Ruby with anger in its eyes. It then caused its wings to glow and become metallic in colour as it charged straight at Ruby. Acting on instinct before the attack hit, Ruby burst into rose petals and accelerated to the other side of the room dodging the attack.

"Flame?" Talonflame swivelled itself around and flew just in front of Kai.

"It's called a semblance Talonflame. Think of it like a special ability some humans have here, Greninja went up against one a couple of days ago." Kai explained.

Talonflame nodded. "Flame."

A bullet passed in-between their heads and the two of them saw Ruby, holding a weapon that had a similar colour to her scythe but was more like a gun specifically a sniper rifle.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Kai groaned. "Talonflame take her down with, **Flame Charge!** "

Talonflame ignited itself on fire and flew at Ruby at high speed tackling her and pushing her back, while his body glowed with an orange aura. Ruby transformed her rifle back into her scythe and lifted it above Talonflame.

" **Now use Steel Wing!** " Kai commanded.

Talonflame spun around dispersing its flames and made its wings metallic before carrying the momentum and attacking Ruby with a spinning upwards swipe. Ruby grunted as she got knocked into the air, before grabbing the trigger on her weapon and pulling it using the momentum from the shot to viciously swing at Talonflame slashing it and stopping its momentum.

"Talonflame!" Kai cried.

"Talon!" It responded.

"Okay, then let's keep up the pressure." Ruby landed on her two feet and started running at Talonflame with her scythe at high speed. "Talonflame fly up high!"

Talonflame flapped its wings intensely sending itself high into the air causing Ruby's attack to miss. Ruby looked up to see Talonflame had already reached as high as the ceiling.

" **Talonflame use Fly!** "

Talonflame got surrounded in a blue aura and flew straight down like a dive bomber at Ruby. Ruby reacted by running off causing Talonflame to dive at the ground, but stopped itself from hitting at the last moment causing it to glide just above the ground and keep up the pace with Ruby.

"Stay back!" Ruby shouted and turned her scythe back into a sniper rifle to begin firing shots at Talonflame. The fire dust shots connected but barely did any damage to Talonflame as it kept up the pace. The two of them moving at such high speeds made them difficult to track and filled the air with rose petals and embers.

 _'_ _It's no good chasing her down like this, those shots even if they're doing very little damage will eventually wear Talonflame down. And that's if she keeps up with fire dust and doesn't switch to a more damaging ammo like electric.'_ Kai remained in thought trying to come up with a winning strategy to beat Ruby as he had to beat other trainers back home.

 _'_ _If Talonflame was just a bit faster. Wait a minute! I know it normally gets the stat boost after the move but if it could somehow get it during then-'_

" **Talonflame use Flame Charge!** And use the speed boost to catch up with her!"

Talonflame started using flame charge and began accelerating towards Ruby, its flight allowing it to keep up even while turning.

"Taaalon! Flaaaaame! The Pokémon shouted as it suddenly gained a boost in speed and charged into Ruby like a missile, driving her against a wall and creating a fiery explosion. Ruby screamed as Talonflame rose out of the smoke, Kai looked on from a distance as the smoke slowly began to fade.

"I'm not giving up yet." Ruby staggered in place getting herself up before falling to her knees, as she tried to pick herself back up.

"Just give up already. I don't want to fight you, and if you really wanted to fight me then you would have avoided Talonflame entirely and just gone after me, you have the speed to do so." Kai explained.

 _'_ _So why didn't she?'_ Kai felt something wet fall down his chin and he rubbed it with his hand, he looked down at it and saw a smear of blood from his cut. _'Was this why she didn't fight me, because she was afraid to hurt me?'_

Kai slowly walked over towards Ruby, and signalled with his hand to stop Talonflame from approaching. He stood over her and saw her find the strength to get back up and raise her weapon against him. Kai merely stood there and smiled.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot." Kai started to say. "The names Kai. Kai Emblem, how do you do?" He tipped his hat and Ruby just stood there confused. "Okay, then how about…" Kai raised his right arm out and Talonflame flew down and landed on it. "This is Talonflame. Talonflame… You can speak."

Both Talonflame and Ruby looked at Kai in confusion then Talonflame then turned to Ruby.

"Fine. I'll talk to the girl." Talonflame groaned in annoyance.

"It's talking, that's so cool!" Ruby squealed making Kai smirk.

"Yeah I can talk, and since I am talking I gotta say, you really didn't have a chance."

 _'_ _Oh no.'_ Kai thought as his smirk disappeared.

"I mean honestly here I expected a fun fight but all you did was dodge, that's really annoying you know."

"Well I never met a talking fire bird before." Ruby said shyly.

"Pfft! That's hardly an excuse. Still I suppose you did land one good hit on me but honestly-"

"That's enough Talonflame." Kai interrupted. "We got her talking instead of fighting, so don't start things up again."

"Hey just because you're always the peacemaker doesn't mean you always have to stop me in the middle of a fight!" Talonflame retorted.

Kai looked back to Ruby. "Talonflame is kind of a hot head with a competitive attitude. He's just upset because he got fired up battling with you. Honestly it was exciting, if not also slightly terrifying you'd cut one of our heads off."

"It's fine. But since we're talking…" Ruby started to say. "WHO ARE YOU? WHERE DID YOU FIND YOUR BIRD? CAN I HAVE ONE?" She shouted enthusiastically.

"Let's start with one question at a time. I already told you my name, how about you tell me yours."

"Oh right. I'm Ruby Rose! It's nice to meet you."

Ruby raised an open hand which Kai gladly shook.

"Likewise." Kai responded.

"It seems my worries were misplaced after all."

A third voice surprised everyone present and they turned to the entrance to see another familiar individual.

"Professor Ozpin, when did you get here?" Ruby asked.

"Ozpin?" Kai murmured.

"I don't like him. Let me at him!" Talonflame demanded.

Talonflame raise his wings intimidatingly and Kai raised a hand to cut him off.

"I'm guessing you're the one who sent Ruby after me?"

"That would be correct Mr Emblem." Ozpin answered.

"How did you-"

"I have been watching for quite some time, I must say your skill with that bird of yours is quite impressive."

"Something feels off about this guy." Talonflame whispered. "I still think you should let me sink my talons into him."

Kai ignored him and continued. "Okay Ozpin: you know my name, you know what I can do, so tell me. What do you want?"

"Straight to the point I see." Ozpin said taking several steps forward. When he got close Kai took a step back and Talonflame got ready to strike. "Now, now there's no need to be defensive. I merely want to offer you an invitation."

"An invitation to what?" Kai asked.

"To join my academy." He responded.

Kai looked at Talonflame then to Ruby who both had looks of surprise before looking back to Ozpin.

"… I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?

* * *

 **So remember when I said that most of the chapters would be getting longer. Well turns out this one is actually shorter than the prologue. Heh heh... Whoops.**

 ***Delelele whooping intensifies***

 **So we've gone from crickets to Kriketune's. That's an improvement... I think. But to those of you who are patiently waiting, don't worry this is the shortest chapter and I am 90% sure that all remaining chapters at minimum are over 4000 words. So until next week, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	3. Chapter 2: Ever wonder why we're here?

**All right guys and gals welcome to chapter 2 of the crossover. Not much to say really, so I just need to answer any questions then this chapter can begin. Though fair warning this chapter mainly focuses on story and not on action.**

 **Jyoster: Funny thing is, this chapter actually answers where Kai's from. I guess you just need to read to find out.**

* * *

 **-Dusk, Beacon Academy-**

Kai sat quietly in Ozpins office nervously tapping his desk. After Ozpin had interrupted Kai and Ruby's conversation he immediately invited Kai to travel with him alone, much to Ruby's disappointment. After a silent and rather awkward car and Bullhead journey Ozpin took Kai to his office and soon after left him alone.

 _'_ _What am I even doing here?'_ Kai contemplated. _'This guy just sent a teenage girl to kill me, and now he's inviting me into his place of work to enrol me. Something is definitely wrong.'_

Kai looked out of Ozpins window into the sunset, from the top of the Academy the world seemed calm and in some ways beautiful. Kai smiled at the view before focusing more on his faint reflection in the glass. His cut had now formed into a scab but aside from that he was still the same; rough in all the wrong places.

 _'_ _As soon as Ozpin's done with me I'm going to have to take a vacation from this hero stuff, I can't afford looking like a mess I have standards.'_

The sound of the elevator rising and coming to a stop caught Kai's attention and he turned around as the doors opened, Ozpin stepping out.

"I apologise for the wait, I just needed to make sure Miss Rose arrived back safely." Ozpin walked to his desk and sat down Kai's eyes following him the whole way. He picked up a teapot and poured himself a drink.

"Coffee?"

"I'm good thanks." Kai replied unenthusiastically.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug before placing it down.

"Will one of your pets be joining us?"

"Excuse me?"

"You seemed rather attached to them when I saw you, and they seemed capable of thinking for themselves, I assumed you would bring one out to make yourself more comfortable."

Kai looked down at his belt momentarily and grabbed a Poké ball. "For future reference I would please prefer it if you refer to my Pokémon by that name or as friends or family. Calling them pets is insulting."

"I will be sure to remember that for the future."

"Good." Kai pressed the centre and enlarged the ball. "Come on out Greninja, we need to have a chat."

The ball opened and Greninja came out in white light.

"Greninja." He croaked.

"Remarkable." Ozpin remarked.

Greninja quickly turned behind him and recoiled after seeing Ozpin. "Ninja!"

"Easy there pal, Ozpin's here to chat… Right?" Kai asked cautiously.

"You have my word; no harm shall come to you while you're up here."

 _'_ _Well that's convincing.'_ Kai thought sarcastically.

"I suppose since we are talking then; Greninja you can speak."

Greninja cleared his throat and looked Ozpin straight in the eye. "You're pretty messed up you know that?"

Ozpin merely took a sip from his mug. "Is that all?" He asked calmly.

"Well I want to know where my seat is and why you haven't offered me a drink but… Yeah that's basically it."

"My apologies, but now that we're all here we can get this meeting started."

Ozpin put his scroll down on his desk and the same pictures he showed Ruby appeared.

"You did tell Miss Rose that you were the perpetrator of these incidents correct?"

"I…" Kai staggered.

Greninja put his front leg out to stop him.

"You do realise that my master had a ' _scyniple'_ pointed to him at the time, right? Anything he might have said at the time was not said in a positive state of mind."

"Scyniple really?" Kai asked.

"Scythe, sniper rifle. Didn't think I'd have to explain it."

Ozpin removed the images. "Very well then. For the moment let's hypothetically say that this individual was you. I would like to offer that man a place at my academy, if I get to know him that is."

Kai leaned back and put his fingers together. "So hypothetically, what do you want to know?"

Ozpin smiled. "Well firstly where did you come from, and how did you come in possession of such intriguing… Family members."

Kai returned the smile. "You sure you want the truth because it's pretty unbelievable?"

"Yeah we're not kidding. Worst case we're crazy, best case it will blow your mind." Greninja added.

"I only ask for the truth, give me that and I will gladly believe anything you have to say."

"Well-"

"We're aliens!" Greninja interrupted.

Kai turned to his friend. "Well I wouldn't put it quite like that." He then turned to Ozpin. "But basically, yeah we're aliens."

Ozpin sat there patiently. "Please continue."

Kai and Greninja briefly looked at Ozpin in disbelief, but regained composure.

"Well as I was about to say." Kai took a deep breath and calmed his nerves.

 _'_ _Here goes nothing.'_

"We come from a planet called Earth which is kind of similar to yours."

"And by that we mean not at all." Greninja added.

"We live in places similar to Kingdoms only we call them Regions. Me and Greninja come from the Kalos region."

Greninja coughed abrubtly. "The best one." He muffled under his breath.

Kai sighed but then continued. "In our world have creatures like Greninja here called Pokémon. We still have… Regular animals which we keep in zoos, eat for food, you know regular stuff and there are some places like India and Japan which just have animals and have very few native Pokémon, but trust me Pokémon are much different than your everyday pet."

"As in there's more of us, we're more intelligent and we can do cool stuff like this." Greninja held both of his front feet to his sides and formed small fountains of water (essentially his down taunt from Smash 4).

"We live together making life better for each other. For example, Pokémon provide: clean energy, improved manpower and entertainment." Kai listed.

"While humans create resources that make life easier such as: healing items, Pokémon centres… And TV." Greninja added on.

"However around… Twenty years ago-ish. These were beginning to be mass produced." Kai put Greninja's Poké ball on the desk and opened it revealing it's mechanical inside. "This is a Poké ball. They're used to capture wild Pokémon which are raised by people like me called Pokémon trainers."

"And these Pokémon are okay with being captured?" Ozpin asked.

"It isn't that simple." Greninja answered. "Getting captured is a two way relationship, normally a wild Pokémon needs to be convinced of a trainer's conviction. Normally done in a battle, if they're convinced then they allow themselves to be caught. Or they could be really annoying and make the ball wiggle three times before popping out despite having a status condition and being incredibly low-"

"I think he gets the point." Kai interrupted.

Greninja stopped talking and crossed his front legs. "Also it's surprisingly cosy on the inside."

"As I was saying." Kai continued. "Pokémon trainers travel around the region, or regions if they are really adventurous; to train their skills fighting other trainers and going on an adventure. And in most regions there is a Pokémon league where the strongest trainers gather after beating eight powerful trainers known as gym leaders. Once they do that they can choose to take on the strongest trainers in that region; the elite four and the champion. And if you beat them you get the title of champion and be remembered forever in the hall of fame. It's a difficult journey but doing so proves that you can be the very best."

"Like no one ever was~" Greninja sang much to Ozpin's confusion. "What?! It's a catchy song!"

Ozpin took another drink from his mug and proceeded to get out of his seat and look out of the window. The room was in complete silence as Ozpin was thinking. After a couple of minutes, he turned around and stood behind his desk.

"Mr Emblem. I am going to ask you a very serious question that I need you to answer with as much detail as possible. Do you understand?"

Greninja was about to speak up but Kai stopped him by holding out his hand.

"Yes I understand."

Ozpin placed his mug down and sat back down behind the desk.

"Can you please tell me how you managed to arrive at our world and why you decided to come here?"

Kai sighed. "Okay I'll tell you everything, but it's a long story."

"That's fine, I'm quite fond of long stories myself."

Kai straightened his posture in his seat and rested his hands on his legs. "It all started three weeks ago in the biggest city in Kalos."

* * *

 **3 Weeks Earlier…**

 **-Midday, Lumiose City-**

 _The sky was filled with a thick layer of clouds that made the sky look pale grey in colour. The streets were filled with the rustlings of pedestrians carrying on with their lives. One man in particular had fear in face as he was unfortunate enough to not have enough money to pay his cab resulting in him facing down a three foot tall crocodile. But other than that it was pretty peaceful._

 _In one of the cities many cafés, a waiter placed down a steaming cup on a table before leaving._

 _"_ _Thank you." The voice belonged to a much healthier trainer, his eyes were bag less, his cheek was bruise less and his attire was very clean looking. "Ah, nothing like hot chocolate on a cold winter day. Well late winter, early spring depends who you ask."_

 _Kai blew on the drink and put it to his lips before quickly removing it and placing it down. "Nope still too hot!"_

 _Kai started blowing on the drink again when his eye caught the sight of a giant screen on a building. It showed a woman with long pink hair and red glasses, under her was a title card that revealed her name as 'Malva'._

 _"_ _And now our top story." Malva began. "Once again there have been several bizarre incidents occurring around the Kalos region. Eyewitnesses have reported: tremors, unnatural white light and on some occasions mysterious figures appearing from nowhere and disappearing without a trace. No one has been injured in these events, however in routes where these have occurred the population of wild Pokémon has significantly decreased. We have confirmed an official statement that the international police are working with gym leaders and the champion herself to isolate the cause of these events however we ask that if anyone has any information regarding these incidents that they contact the local authorities. In other news…_

 _Kai stopped watching after that and looked into his drink, staring deeply in the chocolaty liquid._

 _"_ _What is going on here? Maybe I should take a- no! It's probably just the weather or a foreign Pokémon travelling overseas, it'll probably be over shortly." Kai picked up his drink and tried to take another sip but still found it too hot and quickly put it back down._

 _"_ _Well this is just peachy." He grumbled._

 _A loud rumbling echoed in the sky and Kai instinctively looked up._

 _"_ _It's probably going to rain soon. Maybe I should give up on my drink and find some shelter."_

 _Another rumbled much louder than the last shook the city. Kai looked at his drink to see the liquid shaking violently._

 _"_ _This isn't normal thunder." He muttered under his breath._

 _A loud crack erupted and caused the ground to shake as if an earthquake had started. The sound of metal bending and the pavement cracking created panic and confusion as people started running through the avenue to find somewhere safe. Kai got from his seat and reached in his pocket._

 _"_ _Oh this is just perfect!" Kai pulled out some change and placed it on the table before running off into the street._

 ** _"_** ** _What are we going to do?!"_**

 ** _"_** ** _We need to get to Prism Tower! It's our best chance!"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Screw that! Doduo use Fly! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Can't we just remain calm?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"_**

 _Kai made his way through the ensuing chaos pushing his way through when he was able._

 _"_ _This is crazy, how is anybody supposed to get to anywhere when-"_

 _"_ _Carrie! Where are you Carrie?!"_

 _Kai stopped in his tracks and looked around for that voice. "It's probably nothing, it's none of my business."_

 _Kai started moving again when he bumped into a middle-aged woman._

 _"_ _I'm so sorry! I-"_

 _"_ _Please have you seen my daughter?!" The woman's voice was croaky from shouting and had tears running down her face. "She's ten years old! Has curly black hair! She was meant to get her starter and-"_

 _The woman broke down into a sob and Kai forced a smile._

 _"_ _Look just relax okay? You said she was getting a starter that means she should be close to the Sycamore Pokémon lab. If you need me to I could take you there."_

 _The woman looked up at Kai and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "You'd do that?"_

 _Kai grabbed her hand. "Sure now come on, it shouldn't be too far from here."_

 _Kai lead the way back through the crowd of restless people. Between the packed crowds and random tremors it was difficult but he managed to get her in front of the building. The windows had been smashed and there were some cracks in the brick work but for the most part the lab looked stable._

 _"_ _Okay this is this place. She should be inside, if not then we might find someone who saw where she went."_

 _The woman leaned in closer with open arms. "Oh thank you!"_

 _When she got close Kai quickly stepped back._

 _"_ _Sorry I'm not a hugging person. Let's just go inside." He dodged awkwardly._

 _Kai started walking to the entrance when another tremor hit and the building started to crack and make a horrible crunching noise. Several scientists rushed out covered in dust and debris._

 _"_ _Is everyone alright?"_

 _"_ _I think so."_

 _"_ _Wait where's the professor?!"_

 _"_ _That trainers missing too!"_

 _The woman clasped her hands. "Carrie…" She whimpered._

 _Kai breathed deeply. "Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?"_

 _Kai rushed in ahead passing the scientists and into the building._

 _"_ _Hey kid wait a minute!"_

 _"_ _It's no use! The building could come down any minute!"_

 _The inside of the lab was a lobby room. The white tile floor was cracked and covered in debris, picture frames with images of Pokémon lay broken surrounded by shattered glass, and furniture lay on the floor dirty, falling apart at the seams. Some debris fell from the ceiling and landed on Kai's shoulder making him jump before quickly brushing it off him._

 _'_ _I better get out of here quick.' He thought._

 _"_ _Professor! Carrie! Hello!" He cried out to no response. "Is anybody still in here? Can you hear me?!"_

 _The room was near silent, the only sound being the sound of the building starting to crack._

 _"_ _ **IF YOU'RE HERE PLEASE ANSWER ME!**_ _"_

 _There was no reply. Kai grunted and kicked the ground. 'I'm sorry, I can't stay here and longer.' Kai turned around and began to leave when he heard the sound of banging metal and a muffled voice._

 _"_ _Lllo! Kn nebode ere me?! (Hello! Can anybody hear me?!)"_

 _Kai sharply turned around. "Professor is that you?!" More mumbling was heard and Kai followed the faint sound to the end of the room where there was a broken elevator. "Of course, they must have tried to come down the elevator when a tremor hit and trapped them. Why didn't I think of that sooner?"_

 _Kai started pulling the doors apart to no avail._

 _"_ _It's no good! I can't open the door on my own, you need to help me from your side!"_

 _Kai started pulling the doors again, this time he could feel a pair of hands close to his own and the door started to budge slowly before opening completely. Inside was a man wearing a lab coat and had black hair that was messy with a couple of bangs. Beside him was a young girl wearing a green beret over her black curly hair and also wore a fluffy yellow coat. In her arms was a one foot tall blue frog with large yellow eyes and a mane of foamy bubbles._

 _"_ _Kai? Kai Emblem?! It's been years, I'd hoped we'd meet again though I would have liked it to have been under better circumstances." The professor said while he slowly got himself out of the elevator cab._

 _"_ _Likewise professor." Kai leaned down to eye level with the girl. "And you must be Carrie. Your mom sent me here to get you."_

 _Carrie looked up at Kai with cloudy red eyes. "You know my mama."_

 _"_ _Yeah, she's just outside. I think it's time the two of you reunited." Kai carefully grabbed Carrie's hand and pulled her out. "Also I see you chose Froakie as your starter. Excellent choice."_

 _The building began to rumble again more violently and debris started falling quickly._

 _"_ _We need to get out of here!" The professor ran and opened the door gesturing Kai and Carrie to leave. The two of them started running when a skin-crawling ripping noise was heard behind them, causing them to instinctively turn around. A bright white light started to glow in the middle of the room then suddenly expand turning into a bright glowing hole with a checkered pattern._

 _"_ _What is that?!" Kai asked startled. As he tried to move he found himself getting pulled towards it._

 _"_ _What are you doing? Get out of there now!" The professor shouted._

 _"_ _I can't! Whatever that thing is it's sucking us in!" Kai replied scraping his feet against the floor._

 _He suddenly felt a violent tug on his arm as Carrie pulled her arm away and hugged her Froakie. Both of them with scared faces as pale as ghosts. Kai looked at the display and hesitated, clenching his fist before relaxing. He breathed in calmly and smiled genuinely at the young girl._

 _"_ _Carrie look at me." He said calmly and Carrie did what she was told. "Make sure you go on plenty of adventures okay?"_

 _Carrie didn't know what Kai meant until she suddenly felt his hands around her waist as he held her in the air, before throwing her to Sycamore. After throwing her Kai suddenly felt the hole pull harder and he found himself quickly getting sucked into it._

 _"_ _Kai!_ _ **KAI!**_ _" The professor screamed._

 _Kai just kept smiling, his eyes went misty and he held onto his fedora with his right hand as he fell into nothingness. Everything was white. Kai then felt a sharp impact at the back of his head. Everything went black._

* * *

 **And that's all for today folks! Tune in next time to see what happens to Kai next. So for now this is Kallerston signing out!**


	4. Chapter 3: Why are we here?

**Don't worry guys and gals I won't keep you waiting, here are the questions posted since the last chapter.**

 **Toy2711: Actually this is set in the middle of Volume 1. I suppose I should have made it clearer but this crossover will consist of both original arcs like the 'Intro arc' now and retellings of the show, such as the next arc the 'Semi-Volume 1 arc'.**

 **Jyoster: I've been expecting this one. I'll be blunt: I don't plan on giving the RWBY cast Pokémon. (gasps and booing ensues) All right, all right settle down. I don't want to explain my full reasoning here but in a nutshell, I don't think adding them will be right for my story. Sorry to disappoint anyone expecting that.**

 **With that out of the way, let's continue from where we left off!**

* * *

 _The darkness started to fade and light entered to reveal… More darkness. More accurately the night time sky, blanketed with stars and a cool breeze wafting through the air._

 _"_ _Uuuuugh." Kai groaned into the night. "What happened? Where am I?"_

 _Kai carefully got himself to an upright position. Every part of him ached especially the back of his head, but he was alive and didn't have anything broken, so there was that._

 _"_ _The last thing I remember was… Ugh- a bright light. No wait there was-"_

 _Kai started to remember everything that happened in Lumiose city and slowly got on to his feet._

 _"_ _So if I was inside of a collapsing building and saw a bright light then… Oh my Arceus I'm dead!" He shouted._

 _"_ _No wait that's ridiculous I'm breathing dead people don't breathe, or maybe I'm just doing it out of habit. Wait I'm in pain do ghosts feel pain- wait ghost types get hurt so they must feel pain!" Kai was clumsily staggering around his current environment mumbling to himself. The land was mostly barren and made up of jagged rock, there was some moss here and there and he thought he saw a couple of trees but it was nothing like anything he'd seen before._

 _"_ _Come on Kai think rationally. You're obviously alive right now, but you don't know where you are or how you got here. That's fine I just need to find something familiar, maybe I can track the stars just like old explorers could-"_

 _Kai's jaw dropped when he saw up in the air was the moon, with part of it broken off._

 _"…_ _What the f-"_

 _A loud howl caught Kai off guard and made him scour his surroundings in a panic._

 _"…_ _It-it's probably nothing. Just my imagination playing tricks on me. Right? Right! Right?"_

 _He heard an unpleasant scraping, like nails on a chalkboard and he started trembling._

 _"_ _C- Calm down. This is fine, it's just… Been a very bad day. You're just a little jumpy that's all, just take a few breaths, and calm your nerves."_

 _Kai started to take a breath when a dark creature lunged from the darkness causing him to splutter. The creature looked similar to a bipedal wolf and had a black body with white bone like extrusions coming from its: spine, arms and legs as well as bone-like claws. Its face was also covered in a bone-like structure giving it the appearance of a mask. Red marks ran down its bony face leading to its eyes which had red lenses and yellow pupils that seemed to glow leaving behind a trail of light._

 _"_ _Okay. You don't look familiar let's see what you are."_

 _Kai pulled out a thin card shaped device with a holographic centre. He opened it and the two ends separated revealing a holographic interior, which Kai positioned to scan the creature._

\- **NO DATA -**

 _"_ _That's… New."_

 _The creature walked slowly on all fours towards Kai, making a low growling noise as it did. Kai slowly went for one of his Poké balls trying not to alarm the thing. As he grabbed one and held it in his hand, he stared deep into the creatures eyes, but where most would be feeling dread, Kai felt excitement._

 _"_ _It's not every day you find a new Pokémon species. I wonder if I get to name you."_

 _Kai threw the ball in the air. "Let's go buddy!"_

 _The ball opened and Greninja came out. "Okay Kai I've got questions: firstly what was with all that rumbl-"_

 _The creature suddenly jumped at Greninja and sank its teeth into his front leg. Greninja winced but then looked at it._

 _"_ _Do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!" The creatures jaw loosened and Greninja jumped away from it._

 _"_ _That looked like Bite. Maybe it's a dark type." Kai muttered under its breath._

 _"_ _Yeah Kai that's great and all- mind giving me some commands!" Greninja interrupted._

 _"_ _Oh right._ _ **Greninja use Water Shuriken!**_ _"_

 _Greninja put its front feet together and threw four shurikens at the creature. Each one cut into its flesh (?) and after the last one made impact in its gut it collapsed to the ground._

 _"_ _Well. That was something I guess." Greninja questioned. "Must have been a low level."_

 _"_ _Um Greninja." Kai said alarmed._

 _"_ _Hm?" Greninja looked at Kai only for him to point at the creatures' body disintegrating into nothing. The two stayed silent for a minute._

 _"_ _Well that's not normal." Greninja stated._

 _"_ _Oh really, what was your first guess?" Kai asked sarcastically._

 _"_ _Wait a minute." Greninja stood in silence scanning the surroundings and feeling the air. "We're not in Kalos anymore."_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"_ _It's hard to explain but I can just tell. Pokémon are more in tune with nature than you humans so maybe it's like a sixth sense or something."_

 _"_ _No, I… I get that it's just-" Kai put his hand to his forehead and felt disoriented._

 _"_ _Look Kai, something funny was going on earlier. First there were the loud noises, then there were screams, and now that I'm finally out of my ball I can see that something big was going on. So spill it, I need to know."_

 _"…_ _I…"_

 _"_ _Kai… Please."_

 _Kai looked down at the ground then back into the sky where he looked again at the broken moon then he looked at the place where the creature once stood._

 _"_ _Okay it all started when-"_

 _Kai lost his balance and fell to the ground, his vision grew hazy and his hearing became muffled. He felt his hat fall off and when he touched his head it felt wet. He looked at his hand to see it covered with blood._

 _'_ _How long has that been there?' He thought._

 _"_ _Kai… Kai! Stay with me buddy!" Greninjas muffled voice echoed in his head._

 _He felt himself going unconscious again, before he did he saw Greninja over him acting panicked and quickly grabbing him, before the darkness returned._

* * *

 _Kai woke up to a bright light that he shielded himself from with his hand. As his eyes adjusted he found himself in a doctor's office: the walls were a lime green and the ceiling was white, there was a window on one wall that showed the night sky, and on another wall was a clock that showed the time was '8:15pm'. Kai was currently lying down on a bed in a far corner and in the other corner was a woman at a desk looking at a computer screen._

 _"_ _Uuugh." He moaned._

 _The woman swivelled her chair and turned towards Kai before getting up and walking towards him._

 _"_ _Good, you're awake. How are you feeling?"_

 _Kai rubbed his eyes and stretched before facing the woman. "Kind of achy, But not as bad as before-ore- ore- ore- ore- ore."_

 _Kai trailed off when he saw the woman up close. She had short purple hair and clammy pale skin which contrasted with her dark purple lipstick and bright lilac eyes. She wore a white doctor's coat, a stethoscope around her neck and blue nurse's scrubs underneath. But the thing that caught Kai's attention the most was that she had a pair of dog ears on her head that reminded Kai of a Poochyenas._

 _"_ _Are you okay sir?" She asked politely._

 _Kai managed to stop himself from speaking. "… I am very confused right now."_

 _"_ _Well that's understandable given what happened to you. You were lucky someone found you when you did."_

 _"_ _Someone found me?" Kai asked confused._

 _"_ _So you don't know who it was either huh." She grabbed her stethoscope and started putting it in her ears. "I was just about to close up for the night when I get a knock on my door- shirt please."_

 _She pointed at Kai's chest and Kai lifted his yellow shirt up in response. She placed the stethoscope on his body and Kai shuddered momentarily from the cold metal._

 _"_ _You were saying about a knock on your door." Kai said._

 _The woman moved the stethoscope to another part of Kai's chest and continued her examination. "Hm? Oh that. Well when I opened the door I saw you there passed out with a head wound, and me being a doctor I couldn't just leave you there. So I brought you inside, dressed the wound and put you in the bed, still I had to wait hours for you to wake up so be thankful you came when you did."_

 _"_ _Right. Thank you for all this."_

 _The woman shrugged. "It's no problem."_

 _She removed the stethoscope from Kai's chest, took it out of her ears and placed it back on her neck._

 _"_ _Well your vitals seem fine, but I need to check if you have a concussion before I can safely discharge you." She walked to her desk and started rummaging through her desk drawers._

 _Kai twiddled his thumbs before putting his hands together. "Listen. Doctor…"_

 _"_ _Amethyst. Doctor Amethyst."_

 _"_ _Right, well Doctor Amethyst. Can you please tell me where I am?"_

 _Doctor Amethyst stopped rummaging through her drawer and turned around to see Kai._

 _"_ _You're in my general practice where I'm-"_

 _"_ _No! I know that, I mean. Where am I? This city, or town, or Route or Region or wherever."_

 _Doctor Amethyst paused for a moment. "You're in the city of Vale."_

 _"_ _Vale huh. And where in the world is that?"_

 _The doctor looked at Kai with a very confused face. "The kingdom of Vale duh, don't you remember how you got here?"_

 _Kai scratched his head. "No not really. There was a bright light, a blow to the back of my head. Then I wake up in the mountains come face to face with some black, disintegrating wolf thing then-"_

 _"_ _Wait you were ambushed by a Grimm?"_

 _"_ _A Grimm? Is that what that thing was called?" Kai asked._

 _Doctor Amethyst paced around the room anxiously while Kai watched in confusion. While he was waiting for her to stop he quickly thought about his possessions and quickly looked frantically around him and saw his hat and his backpack on the floor next to his bed, when he opened his backpack he saw his Poké balls stashed inside._

 _'_ _Phew glad everyone's safe. Wait a minute what about-'_

 _"_ _I'm going to need to ask you some questions." Doctor Amethyst interrupted Kai's train of thought._

 _"_ _Why?"_

 _"_ _Because if your answers support my diagnosis, then I'm afraid you're in more serious condition then I feared."_

 _Kai started to stress and he felt a lump in his throat._

 _"_ _What is it?" He asked nervously._

 _"_ _If I'm right, then I'm afraid you might have a serious case of amnesia."_

 _Kai froze for a moment, but then started breathing normally and regaining his calm._

 _"_ _Okay, ask away."_

 _Dr Amethyst proceeded to ask and then educate Kai about where he ended up. The four kingdoms, The Grimm, Huntsman, Dust, Faunus; Kai had learned the basic foundations of Remnant in the span of a single doctor's appointment. When she had finished her questions she proceeded to finish Kai's physical examination and then let him go. As he started to get up and go Kai noticed that the clock was now at '9:55pm'. He then turned around and looked at the doctor._

 _"_ _Thank you again for everything."_

 _"_ _I just wish I could have done more to help." She responded disappointed looking at the floor._

 _"_ _What are you talking about? You worked overtime to help some stranger you haven't even met for free. You've already gone above and beyond the call of duty."_

 _The doctor smiled and looked back at Kai earnestly. "Thanks that means a lot."_

 _"_ _Oh! And again I am so, so sorry about before. You know when I was staring and stammering- I didn't know but that's no excuse and I'm just sorry and-"_

 _"_ _It's fine! It's fine!" She insisted. "You didn't know about… People like me. And besides I've been given worse looks by creeps who didn't have any decency to apologise."_

 _Kai started to feel bad. She had explained about Faunus getting treated unfairly despite there being laws and it made him sick to his stomach thinking about it._

 _"_ _Never mind me, I'm not the poor guy with amnesia. Still you should get going now, I hope things get better for you soon."_

 _"_ _Thanks and… I hope so too."_

 _Kai smiled at her one last time before opening the door and walking out the clinic. The air was colder than he remembered but after spending over an hour and a half in a room it was nice to breathe in some fresh air._

 _"_ _Took you long enough."_

 _Kai looked into the darkness and saw a familiar Pokémon waiting for him._

 _"_ _I didn't ask you to wait you know."_

 _Greninja shrugged. "You also didn't ask me to carry you through the middle of nowhere to an unknown city, and deliver you to a doctor- undetected might I add! But you know that's what friends are for."_

 _Kai chuckled and grabbed Greninjas shoulder. "All right I owe you an explanation, in fact."_

 _Kai looked at all of the balls now back on his belt. "I owe everyone an explanation."_

 _He grabbed them all in his hands and threw them up in the air, where they were eclipsed by Remnants cracked moon before opening up._

* * *

Kai stopped sitting straight and leaned back in his chair.

"After that I told the rest of my team everything the good doctor told me and then… I think that's about it. Anything to add pal."

Greninja scratched his chin. "Well when I was waiting for you I noticed the moon and freaked out for a good fifteen minutes. But nothing that important."

The two of them looked directly at Ozpin who throughout the story had drank all of his coffee.

"So that's our story. What's yours?" Kai asked Ozpin casually.

Ozpin relaxed in his chair and gave a sigh of relief.

"Well then Mr Emblem, I must say you certainly have traits suitable for a huntsman."

"You know that sounds great except the last person who said that was a pretty bad guy, and the only huntsman I've ever met tried to kill me, so forgive me for not appreciating your oh so kind words." Kai remarked.

"I know that your relationship with me hasn't started on the best of terms but you cannot deny these qualities. A strong will to help those in need, risking your own life to save others, trying to remain rational and calm in stressful scenarios and… A lack of fear in the face of the Grimm." Ozpin in particular emphasized that last part.

"Well I did think it was a Pokémon at the time."

"Does that change anything?"

"Honestly not really, we've dealt with worse. Besides Greninja was the one that took it out, I doubt I could have handled it on my own."

"True. But that is exactly why I run this academy in the first place."

Ozpin leaned forward. "I am going to offer you and your family a place at my academy. If you accept: you will have a place to stay while you are here, and as long for as you remain I will use any available resource at my disposal to help find you a way home."

Ozpin spoke honestly and sincerely and it really made Kai think about his offer. Greninja however;

"What's the catch?" He asked bluntly.

"I assure you there is no ulterior motive."

"Right, and this thing around my neck is made of wool." Greninja said grabbing hold of his tongue.

"You don't honestly expect us to believe that you would: go to great lengths to find us, send one of your _'students'_ to almost kill my master, invite us to your academy for free despite no prior experience and help us get home despite only just meeting us, all out of the goodness of your heart! What kind of idiots do you take us for?!"

The room had a long awkward silence, Kai wanted to calm his friend down… Except he made a good point. They only just met Ozpin and despite telling him a story that seemed crazy he believed every word and treated them like lifelong friends. It certainly wasn't a normal response.

"You asked me before what my story is, I suppose since you shared some of yours I should share some of mine." Ozpin started to say.

Ozpin got up from his seat and walked towards the window staring into the orange sky.

"Without going into too much detail, it is fair to say that I am in a position where I hold much more responsibility than most other people could possibly imagine. I have spent generations training the defenders of tomorrow, acted as an important voice in council affairs, provided a face as an ambassador of sorts to the other kingdoms… And there are my own personal demons that I have to face."

Ozpin turned and stared at Greninja. "And throughout all of this the one thing that I desperately try to avoid above all else is having to ask myself 'What if?'. What if I'm making a mistake that could jeopardise the future of a generation? What if I choose the wrong side in a debate that affects the lives and well being of unsuspecting individuals? What would happen if… I found an extraordinary young man with remarkable talent and didn't help when I had the chance? Do you see where I'm coming from?"

Greninja looked back blankly. "So, you're doing this just to not have any regrets huh. Even if we only stay a day, or if you train us up until graduation and then suddenly we leave to go home, you won't feel like anything you've done had been wasted?"

"If I am able to make someone's life better, to do everything I can possibly do in my power, isn't that what matters most?"

Greninja paused before smiling behind his tongue. "Alright, alright. I still think your methods are sketchy but, you do seem genuine. I don't know per sae if I like you, but I am willing to go along with this. But it's not up to me is it?" Greninja looked at his master. "It's your call Kai."

Ozpin sat back down and put forth a paper document and a pen. "If you do wish to enrol, then sign this and I shall have you in the schools register by morning."

Kai grabbed the pen and held it in his hand, he looked at the document in front of him and quickly read it.

 _'_ _Last chance Kai. If you want out, you do it now.'_ He thought as he stared at the paper. After much time he slowly looked back at Ozpin.

"If I sign this, will my Pokémon be protected? You won't tell anyone outside this building about them. And you won't let anyone take them away."

"Unless I have your permission first, I swear that I won't speak about them to anyone that doesn't need to know. And while they are here they will be protected in the same way I would look after any other student."

"Okay, and how will I be able to fight and train?"

"Most students procure themselves a weapon, commonly homemade or a family heirloom. However, your Pokémon should suffice, as long as you use them within reason. For example, in sparring matches I suggest you may only use the same number as your number of opponents."

"And what about aura?"

"As you study and improve you should be able to unlock your aura on your own."

"That's not gonna be fast enough for me."

"Mr Emblem-"

"These people have very dangerous weapons and without aura then I have no way to defend myself!" Kai interrupted. "Ruby would have dealt much worse than a cut if I didn't get out the way and if she wasn't afraid to hurt me! Isn't there anything you can do to speed up the process?" Kai interrupted.

Kai then realised how heated up he was and calmed down. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have shouted."

"It's quite alright. But you do have a point, these students have had years of experience so maybe it wouldn't hurt to get you up to par so to speak." Ozpin got up and walked right up to Kai. "If you could stand up please."

Kai hesitated but soon got up. Ozpin placed his hand on Kai's chest and closed his eyes.

"Now close your eyes and concentrate."

Kai looked at Greninja who only gave a confused look back.

"Okay then." Kai said hesitantly.

Kai closed his eyes and soon after Ozpins eyes opened wide before closing again and his body glowed with a green aura.

"Woah." Greninja whispered in disbelief.

"…For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." Ozpin took his hand of Kai and he started staggering back.

"Are you okay there?" Kai asked opening his eyes.

"I just had to use my aura to unlock yours that's all. I should be fine in time."

"Um Kai?" Greninja stuttered.

"What is it?"

"I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just gonna blurt it out. You're glowing!"

Kai looked at his body and saw that he was glowing a light blue.

"Okay this is pretty cool."

"How do you feel?" Greninja asked.

"Honestly not too different to be honest."

"Well you look better. Take a look."

Greninja pointed to the window and while his reflection was still vague there was one difference he noticed immediately.

"My injuries have gone! Still have these terrible bags though."

Ozpin walked back up to Kai. "Your aura not only protects you from physical harm, but will also heal minor wounds and is the gateway to unlocking your semblance. However…"

Kai looked away from his reflection and back to Ozpin.

"However, what?"

"Well it would appear that the amount of aura you have is significantly smaller than normal."

"Oh, is that all." Kai said despairingly.

Greninja then put his foot on Kai's shoulder. "Come on Kai remember; it's not the size that's important, it's how you use it."

"You're really not helping."

"I disagree. Anyway, speaking of aura I'm next! Can we customise colours because if so I'll take a dark red."

"I'm afraid that might not be possible. While animals in our world do possess aura, they have never been able to unlock it in the same way humans and faunus can." Ozpin explained.

"Well we don't know until we try. Come on hit me up!"

Ozpin ignored Greninja and went back to his desk.

"I hate to rush you Mr Emblem but it has been long enough. If you could please decide whether or not to sign then that would be appreciated."

"Is this because I insulted you earlier because I am so sorry about that, truly I am. It's just we've had a difficult time and-"

"Greninja, can you please shut up about aura? Pretty please." Kai interrupted.

"Fine." Greninja grumbled.

Kai sat back down and started writing his signature on the document.

 _'_ _Here goes nothing.'_ He thought.

He slid the document and the pen back to Ozpin and got up from his seat.

"Are we done here?"

"Of course." Ozpin said as he grabbed the document and folded it into his pocket. "There should be someone at the bottom of the elevator who will show you to your dorm."

"Do you really think they're still gonna be standing there after all this time?" Greninja asked.

"I don't think they'll mind that much."

Kai and Greninja walked to the elevator when it suddenly opened taking them slightly by surprise. But the two shrugged it off and went inside, Kai pushed the button for the ground floor and the door closed.

Ozpin sat in his office getting ready to put Kai on the register when his scroll vibrated. He picked it up to see that he had received a message.

 **Qrow: How did the talk with the kid go?**

Ozpin hastily replied.

 **Ozpin: Our suspicions have been confirmed. However, we have a new piece entering the game.**

* * *

Kai and Greninja meanwhile were busy talking in the elevator as it went down.

"No."

"Come on Greninja."

"I'm staying out of the ball. At least until we get into our room."

"You do realise we're about to meet someone, don't you think they're gonna freak out after seeing a giant talking frog."

"First of all: I'm a ninja, people love ninjas. Second, I'm not gonna talk this time. I'll admit it when we met Junior I messed up but this time I won't say a word without your permission just like up there."

"Actually, since nobody knows talking Pokémon aren't normal and we're gonna be staying here a while. I think it wouldn't hurt for you guys to actually speak, it might make things easier."

"Oh, now you tell me."

The elevator stopped moving and the doors opened revealing a familiar face.

"Ugh. Finally, I've been waiting forever." Ruby groaned. "But it's worth it because now I can finally talk to you again and-"

Ruby's attention shifted towards Greninja standing next to Kai.

"Wow! It's a ninja frog! That's so awesome!" She exclaimed.

"I like her." Greninja said.

"Ruby? You're our escort?" Kai asked surprised.

"Yep at first, I really wanted to just lie in bed because that bird of yours kinda hurt, but when Ozpin asked if I could take you to our dorm since we aren't that far away from each other I got so excited because I still have so many questions to ask like-"

"Woah there." Greninja interrupted. "Take breath once in a while it's good for you. And as for your questions I'll be happy to answer as many as I can about how great I am on the way, but first I'm gonna need to see that sweet ' _Scyniple'_ of yours."

Greninja walked ahead with Ruby and Kai just watched from behind as the two got talking.

 _'_ _I guess things are finally starting to get better after all.'_ Kai thought.

"Hey Kai what's taking so long? Is it about your tiny aura? Look it's nothing to be embarrassed about, it's a medical condition you can't help it." Greninja taunted.

Kai smiled and started catching up with the two of them.

 _'_ _When I get my hands on him so help me.'_

Kai chuckled to himself as he reached them and joined in their conversation as he walked to his new home.

* * *

 **So how did you like Kai's origins into Remnant. Since this will be Chapter number 4 (Prologue included) I expect that more and more people are going to be reading this soon... Maybe... I hope. So if that's the case feel free to tell me how to improve, this is my first published story after all. This might sound random but the reviews I've gotten so far are all positive, which is great don't get me wrong. But I keep getting nagging thoughts about say: are the RWBY characters accurate to their portrayal in the show? Am I doing a good job explaining the scene? Are Kai and his Pokémon entertaining? Are the fight scenes good? Is mayonnaise and instrument? Or you could just keep telling me how great I am in all of those areas. You know, whatever works. Anyway until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	5. Chapter 4: Day one (Part I)

**No questions this time so let's get right into it.**

* * *

 **-Morning, Beacon Academy-**

Light shone through the partially covered window leading into Kai's dorm. Without the other three beds, it was surprisingly spacious. By one of the walls was a wooden desk Ozpin gave him as a welcome gift to give him somewhere private to work away from other students. There was a door each on two parallel walls that opened to reveal closets, though all Kai had were: his trainer attire, the pyjamas he was currently wearing, and his school uniform. Under the window was an empty bookshelf and in the far corner was a television and a large mirror. All in all, it was pretty nice.

Kai tossed and turned in his bed with partially open eyes. "I'm not getting up, I'm not getting up." Kai continued rolling around trying to get back to sleep before falling out of bed with a thud. "Okay I'm up."

Kai opened his curtains and quickly got changed into his uniform; he wore a black suit lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie which was he wore slightly to the left. However, he still wore his signature fedora and his belt lined with his Poké balls.

He looked at himself in the mirror and admired himself. "Not bad, not bad. Tight around the neck but still pretty good."

His admiration was interrupted by a loud knocking from his door, he turned around surprised but quickly composed himself. He quickly opened the door to be greeted by a familiar silver eyed huntress dressed in the female school uniform.

"Good morning." Ruby said. "Hope you slept well."

Kai replied stretching his arms. "Best I've slept since I got here." Kai replied as he started stretching.

"But it's your first day." Ruby said confused. "Oh, wait you meant since you got to Vale. I forgot that you're not from around here."

"Yeah, that's right." Kai awkwardly replied. _'It's not technically lying.'_ He thought.

"So whatya doing today?" Ruby asked.

"I don't really know." Kai rested his chin on his fist in thinking fashion. "Ozpin gave me the day off today so that I could get used to this place before taking classes, but honestly I feel like spending the whole day just lying in bed."

Ruby suddenly perked up in excitement. "Oh, I know what you can do. I can give you a tour of the place." Kai's expression remained motionless.

"Look Ruby, that's not a bad idea but-"

"Great, let's go!" Ruby says as she grabs Kai's collar and pulls him out the door.

"But I haven't even eaten yet!" Kai struggled but quickly gave up, he knew Ruby for a day and he already learned that when she wants to do something, there's no point trying to stop her.

* * *

Ruby then showed Kai around some of the major areas of the school notably: the Main Avenue, the Dining Hall, the Library and-

"The Cross Continental Transmit System!" Ruby exclaimed joyously. "Or the CCT for short! It is one of four that lets people talk to each other from all over the world!"

"You seem very excited about it." Kai stated bewildered. The Pokémon world had more advanced methods of communication like the: GTS, Royal Avenue or Geonet just to name a few so this seemed a lot less impressive to him as it was to Ruby.

"Right! It's just so cool!" Ruby continued.

Kai opened his bag and got out his timetable for his classes. _'Still, worldwide communication might be useful to find a way home.'_ Kai thought.

"Hey what you got there?" Ruby asked.

"Oh this?" Kai said getting cut off from his train of thought. "It's just my timetable. I figured that while we're on this tour you can show me to some of my classrooms."

"Ugh. But those are boring!" Ruby groaned.

"Well it doesn't matter if they are, now that I'm out of bed I might as well make things a bit easier when I start." Kai carried on ignoring Ruby's groans. "Okay so, if I were in classes today right now I'd be having a Doctor Oo-"

"Doctor Oobleck!" Ruby screamed panicked.

"…Yeaaah." Kai cautiously continued. "Ruby. Why did that make you scream?"

"Because I have him right now and I forgot all about it!"

"Oh, that means we share some classes togeth- you forgot!"

"I was so excited to show you around that it completely slipped my mind! We gotta go now!" Ruby grabbed Kai's arm and started running at top speed, Kai unfortunately getting dragged along with her.

"Slow down Ruby!" Kai begged. "If you don't you'll rip my arm off!"

* * *

Ruby and Kai soon found themselves in one of the schools' hallways in front of a large wooden door.

"Sooo." Kai said awkwardly. "You should probably go in."

"Or we can-"

"No Ruby." Kai cut off. "You dug yourself into this mess, you dig yourself out of it."

Ruby sighed and slowly pushed open the door.

The room was a large lecture hall with rows of long tables that each had several students using them. On the board was a map of Remnant though it was hard to tell due to the paper and red string over it, and around the room were piles and piles of papers. The teacher in the room Doctor Oobleck had: messy green hair, round glasses, and a white shirt that had its collar raised and a yellow tie wrapped around it. He also had the actions and mannerisms of a man addicted to caffeine.

One moment he was talking to the class, and a literal second later he had somehow appeared right in front of Ruby.

 _'_ _And here I thought Ruby was fast.'_ Kai thought.

"Why hello Miss Rose so glad you can join us today, only twenty-five minutes late! But still I'm glad you joined us!" Oobleck quickly summarised.

 _'_ _He doesn't just move fast, he is fast. Or is this normal and I'm just slow here. Questions for later.'_

"Well it's a funny story." Ruby started to say.

"I'm sure it is Miss Rose, just as your first two stories were, with this being your third late this week! And with this being your third late not just this week but also this semester I am afraid that I will have to exhibit some form of fitting punishment for you." Oobleck quickly told Ruby.

 _'_ _I know this was her fault but this is difficult to watch. I was the reason she was late even if it was indirectly.'_

Oobleck zoomed over to his desk and zoomed back to Ruby carrying a large pile of papers.

"This should suffice! For the next two weeks you will be spending detention with me where you will be filling out every single one of these papers, and if you aren't finished in that time then you will have to also write a report about the Human-Faunus civil rights movement which we will have started covering by that time! Do I make myself clear?"

"What?!" Ruby said shocked at the workload.

"Do I make myself clear?!" Oobleck repeated.

"I-"

"Excuse me!"

Everyone in the hall turned towards the sound of an unfamiliar voice, belonging to Kai who was walking into the room.

"I hate to interrupt your lesson but I'm afraid that there has been a misunderstanding."

"And what might that be? Also who are you and what are you doing here?" Oobleck asked.

"Well firstly the reason that Ruby was late was because I asked her to show me around and we lost track of time. Secondly I just arrived here yesterday and I'm attending this... Place." Kai explained.

Oobleck quickly eyed him down and Kai almost felt sweat from how nervous he was in front of this man.

"Name?"

"What-"

"Name please. If you really are attending this school even if you are late, then your name should be on the register even though you came late."

"Oh right. Kai. Kai Emblem."

Oobleck rushed to his desk and quickly looked through a sheet of paper. Kai then realised that everyone in the class currently had their eyes on him.

 _'_ _Oh dear Arceus. What have I done?'_

Oobleck immediately returned in front of Kai and he took a step back in surprise.

"Well Mr Emblem, you seem to be on there, however it says that you were not due to start classes until tomorrow."

"…Well… The thing about that is-" Kai mumbled trying to think of a response.

"Well I'm sure it's just an error, I'll be sure to correct it so that the rest of the faculty knows. Please take your seat enough time has already been wasted, you too Miss Rose please take your seat. And in future please don't distract my students with such medial tasks Mr Emblem."

Kai turned to face the class and cautiously walked towards an empty seat far away from everyone else. Before he got there Ruby passed him and he quickly got in her path.

"You owe me, big time." He whispered before making his way to his seat.

"Now then students please settle down." Oobleck drunk from a mug and zoomed to another part of the class. "Continuing from where we left of-"

Kai started unpacking his bag on his table when he felt like he was being watched. He looked up and saw Ruby chatting with three other girls. One had white hair in a ponytail that leant to the side as well as a scar on her right eye, another had black hair and wore a bow on her head, and the third and final one had long blonde hair and lilac coloured eyes similar to Doctor Amethyst's. Kai turned his head back to his table and tried to concentrate on what Oobleck was saying.

 _'_ _The things I do for people in need.'_ He thought to himself with a smirk.

* * *

Ooblecks lesson was difficult to grasp to say the least. Between Oobleck speaking a hundred words a second, and Kai having literally no knowledge on Remnants history; it wasn't a fun time. Especially when he answered a question incorrectly in front of the whole class. How was he meant to know that one of the reasons the Great War started was because two of the kingdoms outlawed art, emotion and creativity? Regardless when the bell went off to signal the end of lesson Kai was beyond relieved. He was currently in the hallway staring at his timetable.

 _'_ _So this is great. Now I no longer have the day off, wonderful. Still no point complaining about it now, up next it says I have a… Oh a study period. At least that gives me an hour to do whatever I-'_

Kai was suddenly pulled away by his collar and his back was soon against the wall.

"So you're the newbie eh."

Kai stood face to face with the blonde haired girl who he saw chatting with Ruby earlier.

"Can I help you?" Kai politely asked.

"We just wanted to get to know you better. Nothing serious." She said calmly.

"We?" Kai said confused.

Kai was then approached by the girl with the ponytail and the scar.

"Specifically we want to know why you distracted our teammate just because you missed the first week of the semester." She said bitterly. "Also why did you come late and where is the rest of your team?"

"Well… I… If you gave me some time to explain." Kai fumbled around trying to think of a decent excuse for being late.

"Don't you two think you're being too… Confrontational about this?" The third girl with black hair and a bow said joining them.

"Come on Blake, we're just getting to know the guy. The ice queen over here was the one being nosy." The blonde haired girl commented.

"It's just unusual to allow students to attend if they don't bother showing up at the beginning of the school year." The ' _ice queen_ ' responded. "And I don't like that nickname."

"Regardless we do have a lesson right now, we should probably get going or we're going to be late. After what happened just now Ruby already went ahead." Blake told her teammates.

"Okay fine." The blonde haired girl finally walked away from Kai. "See ya later newbie."

The girl with the ponytail just scoffed and walked off with her arms crossed, and the three girls were soon down the hall.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not gonna see the last of those girls any time soon." Kai said as he got his bearings.

* * *

Kai was currently in the library with an open book in front of him on a table, he was currently trying to do some independent studying… And failing miserably as he was fantasising instead on Pokémon battling. A boy with short blond hair wearing armour suddenly moved a chair on the opposite end of Kai's table.

"Mind if I sit here?" He asked.

Kai looked up at him from his daydream. "By all means, go right ahead."

"Thanks." The boy said as he sat down. "That's odd."

"Hmm?" Kai murmured looking back up at the boy.

"This is probably going to be a dumb thing to say but; well you look like you're a first year as well but I don't think I've seen you before. Never mind I'm probably just getting mixed up."

"No you're right. I am a first year, I've just… Only been enrolled yesterday."

"Wait really! Oh well it's nice to meet you… Err."

"Kai. Kai Emblem." Kai answered while holding out his hand.

"Oh right." The boy said realising that Kai was going for a handshake. "Jaune Arc. That's my name Jaune… Arc. Which I just told you."

"Jaune there you are."

Kai and Jaune turned around to see three more students approaching them. One was a girl with red hair in a ponytail who wore bronze Spartan-like armour, the second was another girl with short orange hair who was also wearing armour though more similar to Jaune's and a white top, the third was the only boy of the group who wore traditional green robes and had black spiky hair that was magenta on the left and in a ponytail at the back.

"Wait you guys are free too. That's coincidence." Jaune remarked.

"Not really. We're on the same team so we have the same timetable. And we sleep in the same room because you know, we're a team. A team that after first lesson you ditched." The orange haired girl berated.

"Oh, sorry about that."

"It's fine. Besides it seems we're not the only ones to find you." The boy said referring to Kai.

"Oh right, guys this is Kai he just started school yesterday." Jaune introduced.

"Well I signed up yesterday. Today's my actual first day… Unintentionally." Kai murmured the last part.

"And Kai this is my team. That's-"

"Hi! I'm Nora!" The orange haired girl loudly interrupted to the shushing of other students in the library.

"Lie Ren." The boy said calmly in contrast to his teammate.

"And, well I'm Pyrrha. Hello." The girl in Spartan-like armour shyly said.

"Though you probably already know her cause she's such a celebrity!" Nora added.

Kai looked confused. "… Should I?"

"You don't… Know me?" Pyrrha said cautiously.

"Sorry, but I don't. Are you important?"

"… No, not really. It doesn't matter in the slightest."

Kai somewhat knew what she meant, whenever he entered a tournament in Kalos he was sometimes recognised on Routes afterwards, and it always startled him when he was.

"So I guess I should move now." Kai said.

"Is there somewhere you're meant to be?" Ren asked.

"No, I just didn't think you'd want some stranger getting in the way of your… Team meeting as it were."

"We don't mind, you can stay if you want." Jaune reassured.

"We were just going to look at some work we need to brush on anyway." Pyrrha added.

"Well if you don't mind- in fact… Would you mind if I joined you?"

Kai and team JNPR spent the hour studying with each other. For Kai it was a gift from Arceus himself to finally start learning about Remnant. Kai even learnt that the Grimm that tried to kill him was called a Beowolf. He was actually getting invested until the bell rang.

"Huh, already. It felt like we were just getting started." Kai commented.

"What are you talking about? That was so boring!" Nora complained.

"Repetition is the key to success Nora." Ren reminded her.

"Well its break now, we were planning to meet some friends of ours if you wanted to come with us Kai." Jaune stated.

"You know what. Why not, I need to branch out."

* * *

The five of them headed out of the library and soon enough they entered the canteen, where dozens and dozens of students were just sitting around chatting to each other.

"So where are your friends?" Kai asked.

"They should be around here somewhere." Jaune replied.

"I think they're over there." Pyrrha pointed to a table not too far away from them, and they started walking towards it. Only when they got close did Kai finally recognise who was sitting there.

"I just can't escape from you, can I?" Kai said sarcastically.

"Oh hey Kai! Thanks again for bailing me out." Ruby said as Kai and JNPR sat down next to Ruby and her team.

"You know Ruby?" Jaune asked.

"It's a long story." Kai answered.

"So newbie, Ruby told us what you did for her during our lesson just now, thanks for that." The blonde haired girl told Kai. "The name's Yang by the way."

"I'm Blake, sorry about interrogating you earlier."

"Oh that, it's fine. You didn't really do anything, it was mainly Yang and…"

Kai stared at the pony tail girl unable to come up with a name.

"Weiss. Weiss Schnee." She said plainly. "Did you not bring the rest of your team?"

"Well I kind of don't have one."

 _'_ _At least not the one you're thinking of.'_ He thought.

"You don't have a team? I thought all students were placed in teams of four." Pyrrha said confused.

"Well I must be an exception then."

"Well then how did you make it through the second day?" Weiss asked.

"Well, I did only sign up last evening."

"But you passed an entrance exam right?"

"Um… Well. I had an interview… Was… Was that it?" Kai said anxiously.

"Oh so that's how you joined." Ruby chimed in. "I'm an exception too, I was meant to have two more years of training at Patch but after I stopped some bad guys Ozpin talked to me in prison and I got in two years early!"

"Oh really."

 _'_ _Chalk another one up for Ozpin's ambiguous student recruitment. Wait did she just say prison?!'_

"But you must have had some training right?" Weiss asked again.

"Um… Well…" Kai tried to come up with a convincing lie or half-truth but he wasn't exactly the best at making stuff up on the spot. "I suppose… I've been training on the road." He finally said unconvincingly.

"On the road?" Weiss repeated raising an eyebrow.

"Yes actually." Kai reinforced. "For three years now."

 _'_ _Again not lying, they just don't know I'm talking about going on my journey in Kalos.'_

Weiss looked at Kai suspiciously.

"Well that's enough of that! Story time!" Nora loudly interrupted.

"Story time?" Kai asked.

"It's something Nora does." Jaune answered.

"So there we were, surrounded by an entire army of Grimm!" Nora began.

"There were twelve of them." Ren corrected.

"Some of the most deadly Grimm that we had ever come across."

"Nine Beowolfs and three Boarbatusks."

"The two of us were weak and low on energy from surviving the nights before."

"Nora forgot to have breakfast."

This story lasted all of break and everyone was interested or entertained, well barring Weiss but that was normal for her. Until the bell finally rang.

"And that last part was just a dream." Ren concluded.

"Gotta say I enjoyed the story, I might have to share one of mine sometime." Kai said while looking at his timetable. "Looks like next up I have… Professor Port."

"Uuugh same." Yang and Nora groaned in unison.

"Great what's wrong with this teacher?"

"Nothing is wrong. Those two just don't want to listen to a professional huntsman." Weiss argued.

"But he's so boring." Nora groaned even louder.

"And I think he winked at me during our first lesson." Yang said creeped out.

"Okay I doubt he's that bad." Kai said.

* * *

 _'_ _Never mind. He is that bad.'_ Kai thought as his head lay on top of his hands.

Professor Ports lecture hall was very similar to Doctor Ooblecks, the main difference was that instead of notes and a world map. There was instead several labelled diagrams of different Grimm species hanging off the wall and there was a large space in front of the students' tables for some unknown purpose.

"The devil was crafty I'll give it that, but it was no match for a well groomed and versatile huntsman like my blah. Blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah." Professor Port lectured.

He had thick light-grey hair on his head and a thick light-grey moustache. His eyes appeared to be closed yet he seemed able to see clearly, reminding Kai of a certain famous gym leader from the Kanto region. His attire consisted of a double breasted burgundy suit with gold piping and buttons, and he had a passion for droning on about his accomplishments as a young huntsman.

"Blah blah blah blah blah…"

 _'_ _I have never been this tempted to fall asleep in my life. In fact…'_

Kai's eyes began to feel heavy and he started to get comfortable in his hands.

"Mr Emblem!"

Kai was immediately shocked back into being alert. "Yes!" He blurted out.

"I mean yes sir." He said more calmly.

"I understand that it is your first day here at our fine academy is that right?"

"Yes it is. And…?"

"If you could come down I think it would be very educational for you to perform a special demonstration in front of the class."

 _'_ _Special demonstration.'_ Kai looked around and saw all eyes were on him, especially teams RWBY and JNPR.

"I'm sure you'll do great." Pyrrha assured.

"Come on show us what you can do." Yang encouraged.

Ruby wasn't saying anything but had a face that showed that she really wanted to see more Pokémon action. Who was Kai to say no?

"Sure, okay then." Kai quickly got out of his seat and left the room. He had already been told during his study session with JNPR that when sparring or in a demonstration, you get changed into your combat clothes. And while Kai only had his trainer clothes, they were designed to survive the harsh tall grass and the many varieties of Pokémon found in them, so they should be suitable and not get damaged easily. He returned not long after he fully changed and stood on the large space in front of the tables, the entire class watching him.

"Are you ready Mr Emblem?" Port asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Kai replied.

Professor Port pulled out a large wooden cage and his signature weapon, a blunderbuss with axe blades surrounding the back.

"Then begin." He cut the lock off the cage and the Grimm came out.

The Grimm looked like a large black bear with the similar traits that a Grimm had. Bone mask, red eyes with yellow pupils, spiky bone like extrusions from most of its body; the usual. However it also had bone like padding on its arms and legs providing it extra protection, and a multitude of bone spikes coming out of its back that would make a Ferrothorn blush.

"He's making Kai fight an Ursa." Jaune blurted out in surprise.

"No it's worse than that." Blake said slightly concerned. "It's an Ursa Major. A larger and stronger version of the more typical Ursa Minors."

Weiss stared at Kai with intrigue. _'I wonder what he can possibly hope to do with no training, I'm surprised they let him in, in the first place.'_

Kai quickly went for one of his Poké balls. "All right. Eenie, meenie, minie, this one."

Kai grabbed one and got smacked across the room by the Ursa delivering a powerful swing of its paw. Kai felt pain but found he had the strength to keep going as he saw his body glow a brief light blue.

 _'_ _Well at least my aura works, now it's time to bring out-'_ Kai went for his belt but felt nothing there. He looked down and saw that none of his Poké balls were there in fact that swing had knocked them off and scattered them across the floor.

"Oh, this is very, very bad."

The Ursa charged at Kai and he went to its side where it swung its front leg, knocking Kai in the back and sending him to the floor. Kai turned around only to block a downward slash from the Grimm's claws keeping Kai on the ground. Kai looked around the floor frantically and saw one of his Poké balls nearby, he went to grab it but the Grimm slammed its two front legs on Kai winding him and pinning him to the ground. Kai reached for the Poké ball and was able to scratch it with the tip of his finger but not grab it. The Grimm roared lunging out its head with its mouth open ready to bite into Kai. Kai had to wrestle back its head with all the strength he could muster but between the weight of the Ursas legs on his chest and its claws sinking in, he wasn't sure how long he could keep it up.

Meanwhile in the stands the students watched in anticipation and slight horror as Kai was getting mauled.

"This isn't looking good." Ren commented.

"Come on the things right where he wants it. Here's where he takes it out… Right?" Nora said.

"I'm sure Kai can do it." Ruby enforced. "I know he can."

Kai was starting to get tired, his arms ached from pushing the Grimm's head back and its claws made breathing slightly painful.

 _'_ _Come on Kai, think of a way of a way out of this.'_

Kai tried to remain calm but the longer he remained under the Grimm's weight, the faster his heart beated and the more panicked he became.

 _'_ _There's… There's no way out. I can't do anything! I'm going to die aren't I?!'_

Kai's eyes suddenly went wide and in an instant, he felt an enormous pain in his head.

"Augh!" He cried out.

A bright, powerful light entered his eyes causing him to close them tightly and he heard extremely loud noises constantly ringing in his ears.

"Make it stop. Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!"

Kai let go of the Ursas head to cover his ears letting it crunch into his right shoulder.

" **UURRRRAAAAAAAAGHHH!** "

The rest of the students could only watch Kai struggle from the side-lines.

"This is painful to watch." Yang cringed.

"His aura must be getting really low." Pyrrha stated concerned.

Weiss abruptly stood up. "Professor, you need to stop this now. Clearly he can't handle it!"

Professor Port looked at Weiss and then at Kai before sighing. He grabbed his blunderbuss and tried to aim at the Grimm but struggled due to Kai being in the way.

Kai suddenly opened his eyes and his vision was… Weird. His vision was tinted light blue and everything was bright. Everything continuously had afterimages following them making everything look like a blur, and even the quietest of sounds seemed to echo. Kai felt exhausted to a point where he saw the Grimm biting into his shoulder but didn't have the will to do anything about it.

 _'_ _Am I dying? Why is the pain dying down slightly? Wait, what is that?!'_

Kai focused his attention on the Ursa which was varying shades of blue that blurred over each other like a painting. However, for some reason it's throat was much more highlighted then the rest of it's body and Kai suddenly felt compelled to strike it. He pulled back his arm and threw a powerful punch in it's jugular, causing the Grimm to release its jaw from Kai's shoulder and relax its body allowing Kai to escape from its front legs. Without even looking Kai grabbed the Poké ball and opened it in a bright light.

Everyone in the class gasped, Ruby looked on with beaming eyes and Professor Port dropped his weapon.

"Oh, my word." He awed.

Aside from Kai turning his entire situation around with a single punch, out of who knows where was an over three-foot-tall bird generating a permeating heat in the air.

"So, is this the guy who made you scream like that?" Talonflame asked his master.

Kai was lying down panting, the pain he felt in his head was gone but after getting nearly mauled to death he was recovering from a panic attack. Talonflame just looked towards the Grimm.

"You can rest easy now. I'll make this thing know what true strength from an opponent feels like."

Talonflame spread out his wings releasing embers into the air, before engulfing himself in fire.

" **Flame Charge!** " He yelled before flying through the air at high speed into the top of the Grimm's chest pushing it back before knocking it to the ground with a loud thud as Talonflame rose into the air.

The students watched with gaping jaws as Talonflame still using Flame Charge rose into the air before performing a somersault charging down, delivering a second attack on the downed Ursa creating a fiery explosion before he flew back into the air.

The Grimm charged on all fours at Talonflame with maximum force. Talonflame ascended quickly avoiding the attack, before reaching the ceiling and flying down in a blue aura.

" **Fly!** "

He collided directly onto the Ursa's back making the floor crack and wind blow from the impact as Talonflame flew back, hovering over the ground with a pained expression.

"So those spikes on your back act like Iron Barbs huh?"

The Grimm jumped into the air and crunched down on Talonflame's wing. Talonflame's eyes went wide before he focused them.

"That's fine I just won't hit your back then! Take this, **Steel Wing!** "

Talonflame's wings became metallic in colour and it delivered a powerful blow forcing the creatures mouth open as he swatted his wing up, then used his second wing to strike at one of it's bone pads pushing it back. It went to charge again but Talonflame performed an aileron roll to dodge before using Steel Wing again to cut into its side. The Ursa turned around quickly and slashed at him twice with it's claws before missing a third letting Talonflame get some distance.

"You're hardly a challenge. You've got bulk but that's about it, normally I wouldn't even bother with a weakling like you. But you made my master scream so- I'LL MAKE YOU DO THE SAME! **Acrobatics!** "

Talonflame flew at the Ursa so quickly that afterimages were following him and he slammed into the Grimm so fast that you could barely notice he hit it in the first place. Then he immediately hit it again from the side, then from behind, then the front again and kept delivering an onslaught from every direction. Talonflame moved so fast that it almost looked like there were multiple of him at once hitting it from all directions. Talonflame then flew high into the air and the Grimm lurched upwards roaring, revealing its unarmoured chest.

"HERE'S THE BIG ONE!" Talonflame shouted before charging a maximum speed into the Ursa's chest, ripping through it and flying out the other side. It gave out one last cry before disintegrating into ash.

"Taalonflaaaaaaaaame!" Talonflame cried as it flew around the classroom in a circle performing some form of victory celebration.

The class remained speechless as Talonflame flew over their heads, even Professor Port who was infamous for flapping his mouth didn't even know where to begin. They had just witnessed this bird appear from the ether, speak like a human (or faunus) and take down an incredibly deadly Grimm with ease. The only one who did react was Kai who had now recovered from his episode and went about collecting his scattered Poké balls. When all six of them were on his belt he held out his right arm and Talonflame landed on it.

"So, that was a Grimm. Gotta say I'm unimpressed given how much people have been talking about them." Talonflame judged.

"Well Talonflame, most people don't have the fire you've got in your belly." Kai stroked his friends' beak with the index finger on his left hand and turned to Professor Port.

"So, have you got anymore of those things?" Kai asked confidently.

"I… Uh…" Port stammered.

The bell suddenly went and Kai smiled at Talonflame.

"Sorry Talonflame lessons over, time for lunch."

"Great I get all fired up and then after I finish my warmup, you force me to stop!" Talonflame growled in annoyance.

"Tell you what, after saving my life just now I'll let you out till the end of the day to spread your wings. How does that sound?"

"…Fine." Talonflame grumbled. "But get me a chicken leg for lunch, I need my protein."

"Fair enough." Kai said as he walked out of the room, leaving everyone else alone to think about what just happened.

* * *

 **And you think your first day at something is eventful. Behind the scenes fact: originally Greninja was going to fight the Ursa Major, but decided to use Talonflame instead because I didn't think he was getting enough attention. Which is ironic given how he goes through a certain development later on that I won't spoil just yet. Either way, the next chapter will be the finale to the 'Intro arc'. Get ready for tension, spectacle and surprise in the arcs finale (but not stories finale) next week! Until then this is Kallerston signing out!**


	6. Chapter 5: Day one (Part II)

**All right denizens of the internet, it's time for the end of the first arc of this story and the first ever arc of my first ever fanfiction!**

 ***** **Pity clapping ensues***

 **Thank you, thank you. But first we've got questions to answer.**

 **Treefrogger:** **That would be telling. You'll just need to read to find out.**

 **Jyoster: Funny how you mention Cardin and Talonflame, since I have plans for the both of them. Though you'll never see it coming.**

 **GN00QuanTa: Again spoilers, I ain't gonna ruin the surprise for you. Though as for his Semblance I'll be merciful and give you a hint. Let's just say you may have seen it already, you may see it again, and you might figure out what it is before I officially announce it. That's all I'll say on that.**

 **With that out of the way, let's get this end or arc chapter rolling!**

 **Note: Due to convenience chapters will now be posted a day earlier than before, in case you were curious about todays post.**

* * *

Kai was sitting alone at a table with a tray of food in front of him and a plate with a chicken leg on the side. After his ordeal with the Ursa Major he had recovered… Well mostly; he was deep in thought trying to figure something out.

 _'_ _That headache. Those noises. What were those? Is it something to do with this world? But I've been here for three weeks, why would I only be affected by it now? It must be something else.'_

Kai stared down at his tray of food and his stomach started to growl.

 _'_ _No point worrying about it on an empty stomach.'_

Kai grabbed a sandwich and took a few bites out of it.

 _'_ _Kind of bland. And tough. I swear you could this as a weapon, it just needs to be part gun.'_

Kai finished his sandwich off and took a sip of water.

 _'_ _Strange it's quiet. Well okay, there's lots of people talking and eating, but no one talking to me. I wonder where Ruby, Jaune and the others went.'_

As if on cue teams RWBY and JNPR abruptly sat down on Kai's table.

"YOU- EXPLAIN- NOW!" Nora exclaimed in amazement.

"I knew there was something special about you." Yang admired.

"I can't say I've ever seen anything like it." Blake confessed.

"Actually-"

"Wait a minute!" Kai interrupted. Everyone stopped talking and Kai raised the chicken leg in the air.

"What are you doing?" Jaune asked.

"Wait for it."

After a couple of seconds an orange blur flew in from the window and snatched the chicken leg out of Kai's hand. The blur charged through the doors of the dining hall forcing them open before they closed on their own with a shunt.

"… Okay continue."

Dozens of questions and compliments were told to Kai and he could barely keep up with them. But he tried his best to answer them without revealing too much. Thankfully he had spent some time already thinking up explanations.

"So you caught these things… In the wild?"

"Not all of them, but yeah. They're easy to find if you look in the right places."

"And you have how many?"

"Six. That's the most any one person can have on them."

"So there are more people like you?"

"Yeah, but we're pretty spread out and like to keep to ourselves. I think I might be the first to ever come to a huntsman academy."

"So why did you become a huntsman?"

Kai shrugged at this question, he didn't really know what to say. "I guess it just found its way to me. I didn't particularly want to become one, but the opportunity came and I took it."

"You're pathetic." The atmosphere was broken and everyone turned to the owner of that comment: Weiss Schnee.

"Um Weiss. Isn't that a bit harsh?" Ruby asked.

"Well I'm not one to stray away from constructive criticism. Please continue."

Weiss looked at Kai with a serious stare. "Do you honestly just see being a huntsman as a job, as something to do? That attitude is going to get you killed."

"Well I think I've shown that I can take care of myself."

"No you didn't! You might have gotten seriously injured just now if it wasn't for that… Creature of yours."

Kai's face grew more serious. "Look Weiss. We don't know each other very well yet so please, don't ever refer to my family like that again."

"You're missing the point! Don't think we haven't noticed: your abysmal knowledge, your lack of combat experience, I bet that those ' _things'_ of yours are the only reason that you were accepted into this school."

"Please stop calling them that."

"And why should I? They're your pets. Your servants. Your slaves. They take all the punishment for you and you take all the glory. Because of your ego? Because you don't care about having to work hard? Or because maybe you enjoy seeing them like getting hurt."

"Don't do it!"

"Do what?"

Kai stood up and slammed his fists on the table making the trays and plates shake. The atmosphere was tense and serious and people were afraid to say anything.

"Do you honestly believe that shouting and hitting the table is going to prove your point?" Weiss berated.

"… I wasn't talking to you."

Weiss didn't know what Kai meant and then she could hear the clinking. The clinking of Kai's Poké balls on his belt shaking in rage.

"Listen to me very carefully." Kai said calmly yet incredibly seriously. "I am very angry right now and I am trying very hard to control it. So is my family. So please excuse me before I do something that I might regret." Kai started walking and left the dining hall storming off.

"Don't you think that was a little extreme?" Yang asked.

"It needed to be said." Weiss defended. "We were all there when he was attacked. We heard him scream and struggle."

"But he was able to free himself and beat the Grimm." Ruby explained.

"No he didn't. Someone had to save him. It doesn't matter if it was going to be the professor, or that it was his bird, he couldn't handle it. And I'm not saying he can't be a huntsman, but he doesn't know anything about being one. He doesn't even have a good reason to be one, how do you expect him to let alone graduate if whenever he gets into trouble, all he can do is hide behind somebody else. He wasn't ready to come here."

* * *

Kai had his hands in his pockets walking around outside and kicking the ground.

"Who does Weiss think she is? Insulting my family, questioning my reasons. I don't even plan on being a huntsman, this is just a temporary home until I find a way back to my real one. But I can't say that, because aside from sounding insane; I doubt she knows what being trapped in a dangerous and alien world feels like!" Kai stopped moving and panted in place letting out his frustration.

"So how is your first day coming along?"

Kai stopped what he was doing and turned around to see Ozpin with his signature cane and coffee mug.

"How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough."

"Then you know exactly how it's going." Kai lowered his arms dramatically and took some deep breaths. Ozpin took a sip from his mug.

"Tell me have you heard of the Schnee family name before?"

Kai thought for a moment. "No I don't think so, except that's Weiss' last name right."

"I see. Well I think that it would be wise to inform you that the Schnee families company is the source of Remnants largest excavation and distribution of Dust. Miss Schnee herself is the heiress to the company."

Kai acted surprised then upset. "So all this time Weiss is a spoilt brat. That makes way too much sense."

"Regardless do you know why she doesn't get along with you?"

"Because she's an uptight stick in the mud."

"It's because she doesn't understand your perspective. Perhaps you should try to understand hers."

Kai looked unconvinced and he crossed his arms. "What perspective, the rich girl who thinks she's above everyone else because of her ridiculous standards."

Ozpin started walking away. "The rich girl who was in the position to get anything she wanted in life and chose the difficult and self-sacrificing path of a huntress." This made Kai think and seeing this made Ozpin smile. "Tell me why do you think anyone would do that? And why would someone like that, have something against you? The answer may surprise you."

Ozpin continued walking and soon left Kai alone deep in thought.

 _'_ _The girl who chose a difficult and self-sacrificing path.'_ Kai continuously thought.

* * *

Lunch finished and next lesson Kai was alone in Professor Peachs' lesson. Apparently nothing ever happens with her… Ever… Frankly it was hard to believe she even existed. Still she apparently does exist and when her lesson ended Kai had one class left.

"Combat practice." Kai stood in the corridor as students passed him. "Says here it's not in a lecture hall and instead in an ami-fe, empi-th-e, em, ami-"

"The Amphitheatre."

Kai looked up from his timetable to see a woman in front of him. She had blonde hair tied back in a bun but had a curl hanging down the right side of her face. She wore a pair of thin ovular glasses which along with her holding a riding crop gave her a look of authority. Her main attire was a white long-sleeved pleated top, a black high waist pencil skirt and black boots with bronze heels.

"Yeah that. Thanks Miss…"

"Miss Goodwitch, your combat practice teacher."

"Oh well… I guess I should head off to-"

"Actually Mr Emblem I would like to speak to you alone, in private." She said sternly.

"Let me guess. You learnt about my Pokémon either through Ozpin or rumours after my Grimm studies lesson, and now you're going to tell me to limit myself during your lesson. Ozpin already told me to only use the same number as my number of opponents so you don't need to worry about that."

Miss Goodwitch adjusted her glasses. "While that was one of my concerns there is another that I need to speak with you about."

"Oh?" Kai asked with intrigue.

"Through your experiences in Professor Port's demonstration, and Doctor Oobleck's question. You may have guessed that we have been testing you today."

"Okay." Kai followed nodding his head.

"As such you may guess that I want you to volunteer for a sparring match today. I would appreciate it if you yourself would put yourself up instead of me having to pick you from the class. This would be to avoid suspicion or giving you extra attention of course."

"Riiight. Because me volunteering for something on my first day isn't suspicious at all."

"I am no stranger to sarcasm Mr Emblem but please do not insult me by using it in my presence."

"Oh. Right… Sorry." Kai apologised sheepishly.

"It's quite alright. But back to the topic at hand: in my lessons I pick two students at random to spar or let them choose who they want to spar for themselves. However due to the greater experience of the students in my class and since this is your first day here, I can let you pick your first opponent this time. I suggest you carefully consider who you might want to go up against."

"So I can choose to fight anyone?" He asked.

"Within reason. And as long as it's consensual."

Kai suddenly had an idea. "Well thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to volunteer and all that." Kai said to Goodwitch as he started walking off.

"… The Amphitheatre is the other way Mr Emblem."

"You know what, maybe I should just follow you. In fact while we're heading there, I should tell you I've already decided who I want to fight."

* * *

The Amphitheatre was a large room with raised bleachers surrounding a circular stadium in the middle of the hall. At the edge of the stadium was a round podium that was apparently used for announcements when it was used as a school meeting place. Teams RWBY and JNPR sat together on the bleachers now dressed in their combat attire.

"Last lesson of the day. Phew I'm beat." Ruby moaned.

"We just had lunch, and a study period!" Weiss complained.

"Yeah but the less you do, the less you wanna do you know."

"It just sounds to me like you're making excuses."

"Well it doesn't help that todays been really boring. I'm still recovering from Professor Port's lesson" Yang argued agreeing with her sister.

"Really aren't you forgetting what happened when-" Jaune started to say before stopping himself.

"When Kai summoned a bird to take down that massive Grimm!" Nora bluntly finished. "What? Are we just meant to act like he doesn't exist because somebody hates him?"

"I do not hate him. He's just: annoying, egotistical and doesn't deserve to be here." Weiss defended.

"If you don't hate him, then how did you know who I was talking about?"

Weiss just turned away and ignored Nora. Ruby was busy looking around the hall for someone.

"You're looking for Kai, aren't you?" Blake asked her leader.

"Yeah, it just doesn't feel right leaving things. Especially after he helped me this morning." Ruby answered glumly.

"Ruby you can't help how other people feel. If you want Weiss and Kai to get along then you're going to have to get them to talk to each other about their issues. As difficult as that looks right now." Blake consolidated.

"I guess you're right."

Before Ruby had any more time to talk about it Miss Goodwitch walked onto the round podium.

"Good afternoon students. I understand that it is your last lesson today but that is no excuse to slack off." Goodwitch stated as if she was reading Ruby's mind. "So, let's start things off with a quick match. Any volunteers?"

Several students raised their hands though Goodwitch only had eyes for one student.

"How about, you there, Mr Emblem."

Kai stood up when Goodwitch said his name getting everyone's attention. "If you insist."

Kai started heading down to the stage and teams RWBY and JNPR watched from their seats.

"So, Kai's in this lesson." Pyrrha commented.

"It's doubtful that people don't know about him after what's happened. I wonder who'll be brave enough to go against him?" Ren asked.

Apparently, no one since as soon as Kai stood up, everyone else's hand went down.

"Will no one else volunteer. If not then I will have to pick someone out at random." Goodwitch said calmly, though this was her plan all along. She had a feeling that no one would want to face Kai after they heard the rumours.

"I'm surprised you don't want to take him on Yang." Blake said.

"Don't get me wrong, I would like to take on one of his family members. But I just don't feel like it today." Yang answered.

"Family members?" Weiss looked at Yang confused.

"That is what he called them. He seemed pretty angry when you called them something else, which reminds me: how come you don't want to fight him?"

"I don't want to waste my time that's all."

"Whatever you say." Yang told her unconvincingly.

Kai made it down to the arena and no one had volunteered.

 _'_ _Well looks like I'll be facing her after all.'_ He thought.

"Anyone? No?" Goodwitch asked. "Well then I'm going to have to pick someone."

Goodwitch turned around and pointed right at teams RWBY and JNPR.

"Miss Schnee, I believe you haven't yet participated in a sparring session this semester. Would you please join us?"

The two teams looked on in surprise from Goodwitch's choice while Kai just smiled.

"Come on Weiss. What do you say we finish our argument at lunch?" Kai egged on urking Weiss.

The Amphitheatre was full of murmurs. Many of the students were aware of Weiss' outburst with Kai at lunch, most of all Teams RWBY and JNPR, even so they wondered if she would even accept given how she saw first hand what Kai's Pokémon could do.

"Is he trying to make the situation worse?" Blake asked.

"I don't know, but I've got a feeling that this is gonna be fun to watch." Yang added.

"Weiss-" Ruby started to say.

"No Ruby!" Weiss interrupted. "If that delinquent wants to fight me, I'll be more than happy to oblige." Weiss got from her seat and started heading down to the raised stage where Kai stood with a continuous smile.

When Weiss walked onto the stage holographic images of her and Kai were shown on two parallel sides above the platform Goodwitch was standing on. The two of them stood on opposite ends of the arena and the rest of the room dimmed giving the illusion that the two of them were alone.

 _'_ _Shadows. Oh, this is too perfect for what I've got planned.'_ Kai thought.

"Are both combatants ready?" Goodwitch asked.

"One moment please." Kai said politely grabbing a Poké ball from his belt. "Don't think I'll hold back because I'm friends with Ruby."

"I should say the same to you." Weiss answered coldly raising the tip of her sword at Kai's direction. Kai smirked and threw the Poké ball in the air sending out an unseen Pokémon.

The Pokémon resembled a golden sword with the blade pointing downwards. The edge of the blade was white and somewhat serrated near the tip. Its single eye, was purple with a white, linear pupil, which sits where the blade meets the hilt, where it is surrounded by black coloration. The handle is thick at its base, tapers as it progresses to the end, and is striated. Two cloth-like arms emerge from the sides of the hilt. Each arm is primarily black and ends in lavender, transitioned by a slight whorl between the two colors, and it carried an ornate shield in front of it's blade concealing most of it.

"Should I be impressed?" Weiss asked.

"Currently no. But when me and Aegislash are done with you; you will be." Kai stated.

The trainer and Pokémon looked to each other and nodded in understanding.

"Begin!" Goodwitch declared.

Weiss immediately charged forwards as a blur towards Aegislash.

 _'_ _I'll finish this with a single strike!'_ She thought to herself. _'That thing might protect most of it's body with that shield but-'_

Weiss immediately halted in front of Aegislash and used her momentum to thrust her rapier right at Aegislash's eye. _'It has an obvious weak spot!'_

When her attack made contact, it phased through Aegislash's body leaving her open and defenceless.

"What?"

"Now Aegislash! **Use Slash!** " Kai commanded.

Before Weiss could react; Aegislash had changed its stance now carrying it's shield in it's left hand leaving the blade unsheathed. Its blades white edges became a bright yellow and it delivered a powerful attack to Weiss' chest dealing critical damage and pushing her back.

"How did you-"

"Don't rest easy yet! **Aegislash use Shadow Sneak!** "

In a flash Aegislash's body faded to darkness and disappeared. Weiss flinched but quickly regained focus and started scanning her surroundings cautiously.

"It figures that someone like you would have to resort to using cheap tactics to win." Weiss stated coldly.

"You know nothing fool!"

An intimidating woman's voice echoed throughout the Amphitheatre.

"Miss… Miss Goodwitch?" Weiss asked confused.

"Of course not!" The voice answered angrily. "Don't pretend that you don't know who I am!"

"…"

"Or perhaps you are more foolish than I first thought. But that does not matter now, for you have insulted my Sire! And in his presence, you shall treat him as a monarch!"

"Monarch?!"

Weiss suddenly felt a chill run up her spine and instinctively looked down towards the ground at her own shadow.

"It means King."

A single purple eye stared back at her.

"Now bow."

The shadow exploded upwards knocking her into the sky where the shadow transformed back into Aegislash. Weiss managed to recover and used a glyph to stop herself before jumping from it back onto the ground to be met with Aegislash's intimidating stare.

"While I must admit your technique is precise and your spirit is strong; you are out of your depth." Aegislash stated coldly.

"You're gonna have to forgive Aegislash." Kai said sympathetically. "She can be a bit harsh with her criticism."

"Harsh or not it is the truth; accept it or deny it you can't win if you keep going the way you are."

Weiss slowly positioned her sword in a defensive stance.

 _'_ _As annoying as she is, she's right. I can't even hit her Myrtenmeister, I need to try something else.'_

Weiss spun her sword until it pointed up and put her fore and middle finger along it with a blue mist following.

"Don't get careless Aegislash she's planning something!" Kai warned.

Weiss pulled her sword back to herself aiming it at Aegislash as a large glyph appeared over her head. She gave a cry while thrusting her sword forward and out from the glyph came a barrage of icicles.

"Not bad but- **Aegislash King's Shield!** " Kai commanded.

Aegislash spun in the air and sheathed herself before projecting a hexagon joined barrier in front of herself blocking the attack.

"Just as predicted." Weiss taunted. "I had a feeling that Dust would be able to damage it and the fact you had that thing defend itself proves it."

"Really. Then go ahead; try it again." Kai provoked.

Weiss remained cautious but summoned five glyphs behind her which shot icicles at Aegislash simultaneously. They shattered on impact with Aegislash's body and while she grunted, there was very little damage done.

"But that should have worked." Weiss lowered her guard in disbelief.

"Weiss, you may be an exceptional huntress one day. But your Pokémon knowledge is beyond pitiful." Kai crossed his arms and looked at Aegislash with a smirk.

"What do you mean? Explain yourself!"

"Well since this is a learning establishment, I'll let you know. Pokémon come in different types and Aegislash here is a Steel/Ghost type. As a Ghost type she's immune to any normal attacks or fighting techniques and as a Steel type she is able to resist your ice minimising any damage."

"What?!" Weiss uttered in disbelief.

"If you did know your types then maybe you wouldn't be in this mess, but since you don't I'll end this quick. **Aegislash,** **finish this up with Iron Head!** "

Aegislash changed its stance again and her body became fully metallic in colour, her cross-guard widened and formed a wide circle.

"By my Sire's will, this shall end it!" Aegislash charged head first towards Weiss at fast speeds. Weiss spread her legs and summoned a large black glyph in front of her to take the attack.

 _'_ _A barrier?'_ Aegislash thought.

Weiss pushed herself away from her Glyph and formed a white one under her feet at an upward angle. She jumped off it and propelled herself in the air where she formed several more glyphs in the air which she jumped from.

 _'_ _Where is she going?'_ Kai suddenly clutched his head and closed his eyes in familiar pain. _'Not again. Not now.'_

"Augh!" Kai screamed.

Weiss jumped on her last glyph and aimed it down before surrounding Kai in a ring of white glyphs.

"Sire, you need to move!" Aegislash warned.

Weiss then jumped off her glyph and landed on a glyph surrounding Kai before immediately jumping of that one to dive at him. Kai opened his eyes and lurched back violently, managing to avoid Weiss' attack, she landed on a parallel glyph and proceeded to attack again only for Kai to miraculously dodge again, and again and again. Until when she jumped off her last glyph Weiss had missed every single one of her attacks. She stood there completely confused.

"You… How did you… How did you avoid every single strike?"

Weiss then noticed something odd, first she noticed Kai standing there breathing in and out to calm down which was obviously a sign he was not well. But more alarmingly his eye colour had changed; they were now light blue… And were glowing.

 _'_ _He was acting that way when the Grimm attacked him before, are they related?'_ She thought.

Kai then lowered his hands from his head and his breathing returned to normal. The light from his eyes disappeared and they returned to their regular brown colour.

"Thanks for waiting." Kai said. The way he sounded it was difficult to tell if he was being sarcastic or if he had no idea he was being attacked and was being sincere.

"Don't turn your back on me."

Aegislash slashed Weiss from behind with a shadowy version of her blade thrusting out of the ground courtesy of Shadow Sneak, knocking Weiss away.

"Do not relax yourself. We are still engaged in combat." Aegislash stated as she formed from her shadow.

Kai adjusted his hat. "Yeah I guess she's right. Are you ready, because I won't be slowing down."

Weiss raised her rapier, at the trainer and Pokémon and readied herself. She spun the base of the blade until it stopped with a click.

" **Aegislash use Shadow Sneak!** Go around the arena!" Kai commanded pointing at the dark stands. Aegislash nodded and sunk into the ground becoming a shadow, squirming quickly into the darkness.

Weiss put her feet together putting her fingers down her blade creating an orange mist, and then she waited.

 _'_ _That sword is hiding in the shadows so I won't be able to see it coming. However, I know from its previous attacks…'_

Aegislash's shadow zoomed out of the darkness straight at Weiss' blind spot and made its way to her, she burst out of the ground only to be trapped half-way in a black glyph.

 _'_ _What?!'_ Kai and Aegislash thought.

Weiss sharply turned around and lit her sword on fire. "I know you'll attack me from behind!"

Weiss swung her sword and released a wave of fire that carried Aegislash away to the edge of the Amphitheatre stage.

"Aegislash!" Kai cried out.

The flames stopped and Aeigislash floated in the air motionless, covered in black marks before looking sinisterly at Weiss. Aeigislash dropped her shield and lurched backwards.

 _'_ _Sire… Forgive me...'_

Aegislash fell to the ground with a loud clang and its white pupil had been replaced with a white swirl.

"What's it doing?" Weiss asked.

"You beat her… You knocked her out…" Kai murmured in disbelief. "… I… I surrender."

A buzzer went off and the lights suddenly flashed back on making everyone else visible again.

"And that's the match!" Miss Goodwitch told the class. "I suppose we can take this as a lesson that even a single mistake could cause you to lose. Out in the world a simple mistake against the Grimm could lead to more than just losing a sparring match. And as for you Mr Emblem, I highly suggest you acquire yourself a weapon, while those Pokémon of yours are formidable as we've just seen, without them you are so unconfident in yourself that you decide to give up despite having an aura advantage."

"Yeah… I'll keep that in mind."

"All right students please exit the stage. Are there any other volunteers today?"

Weiss slowly started to make her way out of the arena when she realised that Kai wasn't following her out. She turned around and saw that Kai was on the other side holding Aegislash in his arms.

"Don't feel disappointed in yourself Aegislash, you did amazing out there today. I'm so proud of you." He pulled out her Poké Ball. "Take a good rest, you've earned it." The ball emitted a red beam and Aegislash was returned. Kai got up and slowly and started making his way to the exit.

* * *

 **The next day…**

Kai was sitting down in his room on his bed, dressed in his school uniform. He was lost in thought, nothing else of note happened after the sparring match. He watched some other students fight including Nora (that poor, poor man she went against), avoided eye contact with Team RWBY and as soon as it was over he made his way back to his room before anyone could catch him. But he still couldn't help but feel awkward after his actions.

 _'_ _Why did I think that challenging Weiss would be a good idea? I mean I had to fight someone but why not keep my emotions out of it, what was I going to gain from this? I beat her and I look like an arrogant jerk, I lose, well look at me now, worried that I've embarrassed myself and ruined the only positive relationships I've made since setting foot on this planet.'_

Kai's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of flapping as he turned his head to see Talonflame perched on the windowsill.

"How was your flight?" Kai asked.

Talonflame stared into the distance. "Between here and the city I'd say it took thirty minutes to get there, thirty minutes back."

"Well at least you're getting used to the place."

"Please. I could travel from one side of Kalos to the other in fifteen minutes during the rain. This is pathetic, I need to take another lap."

Kai shook his head. "Not right now, my first class is starting soon and I can't afford to leave you unattended."

"Geez, are you still upset about losing yesterday?" Talonflame asked in annoyance.

"That has nothing to do with this!"

"You're tone is telling me otherwise! Now if you had left it up to me, I would have beaten her without breaking a sweat!"

Kai sighed. "It's complicated it wasn't just that I wanted to win, I wanted to-"

A knock at the door cut Kai off. Talonflame looked at Kai and Kai just shrugged, he walked to the door and opened it. Standing there was Weiss holding a white flower in a plant pot.

"Weiss! You're here… With a… Potted plant?" Kai exclaimed surprised but then confused.

"It's a housewarming present, our team all chipped in for it." Weiss explained.

"It took four of you to get me a plant."

"Well it was Ruby's idea to get you a gift, Blake decided on a house plant, I chose the species; it's a peace lily by the way, and Yang picked it up."

"Well would you like to bring it in?" Kai asked opening his door.

Weiss was cautious but entered Kai's room. She was surprised with how spacious it was, and even more surprised by Talonflame in the window.

"You're that bird that took on the Grimm single-handedly."

"And you're the brat, who insulted our family!" Talonflame said annoyed. "Yeah I know, and if I wasn't chewing on that chicken leg so help me I would've-!"

"You know what Talonflame, you keep complaining about getting faster. We've got… Seven minutes until first lesson, see how far you can get in that time." Kai interrupted.

Talonflame smirked and flew out the window. _'Works every time.'_ He thought.

"Sorry about that, Talonflame… Well he can sometimes be too hot headed."

"It's fine, in fact… I suppose I've also come here to apologise." Weiss revealed.

"Oh... Do you want to sit down?"

Weiss put the lily on Kai's desk and sat on his bed.

"I would like to apologise for doubting your capabilities and… Insulting your family." Weiss began.

"Look Weiss its fine, really I don't hold it against you anymore."

"But it's not fine. You came up with a strategy to help them fight better and avoid harm, and when they got hurt you don't take pleasure in it, you look after them. I didn't understand how much you cared about them… And how much they care for you."

"Huh." Kai felt a wave of relief. "Well Weiss apology-"

"That said, I still don't think you're ready to be here." She interrupted.

"I don't think you know how apologies work Weiss." Kai joked.

"That's exactly what I mean, you aren't taking this seriously enough. Being a huntsman or a huntress is a huge responsibility, you have to constantly put your life on the line and not just yours, there will be people you need to save and any future teammates whose lives can be put in jeopardy by your actions. And if you're going to continue using them, then you're putting your family in danger as well."

Kai thought for a good few minutes in silence before sitting down next to Weiss with his head down sighing.

"You're right." He said sympathetically. "You were right from the start. I don't deserve to be here, I shouldn't be here but… Ozpin saw something. He told me that I had the traits of a huntsman and maybe I do, but yesterday I learned first-hand just how dangerous this life really is and how much I need to learn. And how unprepared I am for it." Kai turned and faced Weiss. "Ozpin told me yesterday to look at other peoples perspectives, and he told me how you're an heiress to a wealthy company, yet you still chose this terrifying life for yourself. Now I'm not gonna pry into that, that's personal for you. But if you could understand my perspective: the guy who just had his life turned upside-down. Who has no clue what to do and needs to learn everything from the ground up just to get by, it's… Scary." Kai suddenly realised how much he had said and got up. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you all that. I've got a lesson soon and I appreciate the gift-"

"It's okay Kai. It's okay for you to not be okay right now." Weiss intervened. "When school started last week I got partnered with Ruby. And from the moment I met her, I knew I didn't like her. She was: rash, undisciplined, clumsy… And then she became our teams' leader. And honestly I thought it was a mistake. But then after I confronted her about it, I learned that it doesn't matter if things don't go your way, what matters is being the best person you can be despite your circumstances. And that night Ruby had exhausted herself trying to study and become a better leader. And I think if you try your best, then you can become deserving of your place here."

Kai looked at Weiss sincerely and then smiled not smugly but gratefully. "Thank you Weiss. Look yesterday was a mess for the both of us what do you say we bury the hatchet and start over. Deal?" Kai held out his hand, which Weiss soon shook.

"Deal." She repeated.

"So now that's settled up first I have Port… I think."

"You think, or you know?"

"I know, of course I know… I think."

Weiss just walked out the room sighing. "You're hopeless."

Kai just smiled and followed her out. "Actually I do know. I know for a fact that- I don't actually have him today."

Kai mentally face palmed as he saw his timetable and his door closed. Inside the room light from the window landed on the potted lily and it glistened in the sun.

* * *

 **And that folks was the end of the 'Intro arc'. How was it? Legitimately what did you people think: The characters, the Pokémon, the fights, the scenes, the plot. I'd like to know what you think, though don't feel pressured to do it, just do it if you want. Up next is the 'Semi-Volume 1 arc' which will retell half of RWBY Volume 1's episodes. Specifically: Jaunedice, Forever Fall, The Stray and Black and White.**

 **So until next time, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	7. Chapter 6: The bird cry and the bullies

**Happy Easter everyone! Before I begin I need to say that due to Windows 10 (grumbles...) my current laptop was stuck in an infinite loop and had to re download windows... Destroying all my files. (Audible gasp!)**

 **Now, now, don't panic. Nothing vital was lost and my Fan Fiction chapters are stored on a USB so I haven't lost any of the story, and uploads will continue as normal. (Audible sigh of relief).**

 **So before we begin I would just like to thank my dad for helping me research and fix the problem, and my older brother who is lending me his custom built PC to post today's chapter.**

 **Also here are the questions from the last chapter:**

 **Jyoster: While I have been thinking ahead, my plans for the story are for it to end after Volume 3 of RWBY. It just seems like a very convenient point, though I do have ideas for what to plan after that, if I wanted to. *wink wink nudge nudge***

 **With that out of the way, may I present to you the begginning of the 'Semi-Volume 1 arc' enjoy!**

* * *

 **-Morning, Beacon Academy-**

It had been just over a week since Kai had started at Beacon. In that time most people had surprisingly gotten used to him: maybe it was how him getting attacked by a Grimm and losing a sparring match made him appear identical to other students, maybe it was because since that first day Kai had been quite reserved and didn't volunteer to: answer questions, perform demonstrations or any other tasks. Regardless everyone had come to accept Kai and his Pokémon… Well not exactly everyone.

Kai was currently in one of his study periods with a book in one hand and a half-eaten apple in the other. While he had a desk in his room and the library was always an option his preferred place to learn was sitting on a bench in the Main Avenue. He didn't quite know why but he seemed to have better concentration there even if it was just a bit more than normal. Regardless he was just finishing his apple when he spotted a bin nearby. Focusing as hard as he could Kai aimed his apple core at the bin, threw it and completely missed it. Kai looked slightly annoyed and he put away his book in his backpack before heading to retrieve his waste. As he was walking he bumped into someone and stepped back surprised.

"Sorry about that. Didn't see you there." Kai apologised.

"There's a fine for littering you know." The person said over-confidently.

The person in particular was a male first year student: his hair was burnt-orange, combed backwards with a slight peak in the front. He wore silver-grey armour with a gold trim, over a black shirt with red trimmings, and his chest plate had a symbol of a bird with its wings outstretched.

"Is there? Well it's a good thing that I was just going to throw my rubbish in the bin when I walked up to you." Kai was ready to carry on walking when the boys hand stopped him.

"Come to think of it, I think there's a fine for bumping into me too." The boy had a grin on his face and Kai soon found himself surrounded by three other male students. One with a light green mohawk and a sleeveless hoodie, another wearing tan-coloured armour and keeping his eyes squinted (for some reason), and the final one with dark grey armour and combed back dark blue hair.

"Russel tell this guy what the punishment is for bumping into me." The boy told the student with the mohawk.

"A beating from Cardin's what the punishment is that's what." Russel told Kai.

"Really." Kai said unemotionally. "Are we really going through with this cliché bully schtick?"

"Actually, since this is your first-time offence I'm willing to go soft on you and cut you a deal." Cardin leaned in uncomfortably close apparently not noticing Kai's attitude. "If you give me one of those freaks I hear you carry then I'll leave you alone- well unless you bump into me again." Cardin's team snickered after that last part. "So, what's it gonna be?"

Kai placed his hand in his pocket and puffed out air as if he was bored. "I gotta say, you make a good point. All right I'll let you have one."

Cardin's teammates all looked surprised, they all expected that Kai would refuse and they would get to beat him up.

"See, isn't this easy when we all get along. All right hand one of those monsters over."

A loud violent chirping sound was heard around them.

"What was that?" Cardin asked cautiously.

"You mean that sound just now. Oh, that was Talonflame's cry. He's probably just back from his flight and heard me say that I'm gonna let him give it to you." Kai said smugly.

"T- That's not what you agreed." Russel sputtered.

Kai shrugged. "What can I say, I'm sorry things change. You should probably hurry, Talonflame was the one that killed an Ursa Major you know."

Talonflame's cry was heard again and even Cardin started to sweat, the panic was evident on his face. "This isn't over!" He yelled before running away. His teammates soon following.

When they were gone Kai lifted his hand out of his pocket and he was holding the same card like device he used to try and identify the Beowolf when he first entered Remnant. On it was a picture of Talonflame and Kai pressed the screen over a button of a cartoon head making a sound, and Talonflame's cry was heard again. Kai chuckled and closed the device putting it in his pocket.

"Ah the Pokédex. Stores data on all known Pokémon species and can fool chumps without even trying." Kai then walked over to his discarded apple core and threw it successfully in the bin.

* * *

It wasn't until the third lesson of the day that things got interesting, which just so happened to be combat practice. However, unlike last time everyone was standing in the circular stadium instead of on the bleachers, and also unlike last time Kai was standing next to teams RWBY and JNPR.

"So why are we standing here when there are perfectly good seats up there?" Kai asked.

"I'm sure it's for a good reason." Weiss answered.

"Yeah like maybe we're instead having an announcement about how the rest of our classes are cancelled for today." Yang suggested.

"Yang!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You've seriously got to learn to take a joke Weiss."

"Shh." Pyrrha hushed. "There's Miss Goodwitch now."

Miss Goodwitch walked onto the small platform and gained the attention of the class.

"Now, now students settle down. I'm sure some of you may be wondering why I have had you stand in the stadium today. However, I assure you there is a good reason for this."

"So, can she read minds or what?" Kai whispered.

"I don't know but if she could that would make a lot of sense." Ruby whispered back.

"Shh!" Several students behind them shushed.

"Sorry." The two whispered together.

Miss Goodwitch carried on. "When you are out in the field you may find yourself in an enclosed space with not much room to fight. So, for the next few lessons all of our sparring matches will be held on this small platform. With that said; any volunteers?"

The class began talking to themselves and some immediately raised their hands.

"This is so lame, no way I'm volunteering if we only have that much room."

"Cramped quarters are perfect for my fighting style."

"I wonder how many lessons this will last for."

"My feet are aching from how long I've been standing."

Miss Goodwitch eyed the room. "Let's see… All right how about you Mr Winchester."

The conversations quietened down as a Cardin walked onto the podium.

 _'Oh, great not that guy again.'_ Kai thought.

"And who else would like to volunteer?"

Several hands were raised and in the large and mostly dark silhouetted crowd, meaning nobody noticed Russel sneak around and put a clump of freshly picked dirt down someone's back.

"Gah!" Jaune shouted surprised.

"Jaune what's wrong?" Pyrrha asked concerned.

"Oh, it's probably nothing just-" Jaune placed one hand down the back of his hoodie trying to remove the dirt. "Just some harmless prank that's all. Someone just put something down my back."

Jaune's actions gained the attention of the people around him including his friends.

"Was this prank done by Cardin or any other members of Team CRDL?" Pyrrha asked more sternly.

"Wait you know Cardin?" Kai asked.

"He's a bully and he's been picking on Jaune for a while." Ruby explained.

"Oh please… Name one time he's "bullied" me…" Jaune asked before nervously laughing.

A number of scenarios were described to him.

* * *

 _Jaune was walking down the corridor when Cardin walking in the opposite direction knocks the book out of his hand._

 _"Oh, Gah, COME ON!" Jaune exclaimed._

* * *

 _Jaune was walking into a classroom when Cardin was walking out and he causes Jaune's shield to fold out blocking his route._

 _"AH…" Jaune grunts. "Come on…"_

* * *

 _Miss Goodwitch was standing in a changing room full of lockers giving a speech._

 _"Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra-armour. Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code."_

 _Cardin was standing next to Jaune and seeing an opportunity looks at Jaune grinning before shoving him in a nearby locker._

 _"What?! No, wait, wait! You've gotta get me outta here!" Jaune panicked as Cardin entered a six-digit combination on a holographic keypad. "Please! Don't! Don't! Don't do it!" Jaune pleaded as Cardin looked on proudly before the locker erupted blue fire blasting off. "OOOH COME OOON!"_

* * *

"I didn't land far from the school…" Jaune added.

"Jaune don't lie to yourself. This guy is bullying you, he tried to take my Pokémon away from me earlier." Kai told him.

"He what?!" Ruby replied shocked.

"Oh, don't worry I scared him off, it's a funny story."

"Jaune you know if you ever need help you can just ask…" Pyrrha explained.

"OOH!" Nora exclaimed. "We'll break his legs."

"Guys, really it's fine! Besides it's not that he's just a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone. Kai just said so."

Kai looked disapprovingly. "Are you really using me talking about him being a bully, to say that it's okay for him to be a bully?"

"Well I mean… He couldn't have had anything to do with this, he's up on the stage. Why would he even do this to me if he couldn't be here to see my reaction to it." Jaune dodged the question and pulled out the dirt holding it triumphantly in the air.

"Mr Arc, how refreshing to see you volunteer for a change. Please won't you come onto the stage." Miss Goodwitch told the class.

"B- But I… You see…" Jaune mumbled as Cardin looked on from the stage with a grin plastered on his face. "Oh, come on…"

Jaune hesitantly stepped forward and walked onto the platform.

"He had everything to do with this didn't he?" Kai asked already knowing the answer.

"Yep." Everyone else confirmed.

"Thought so."

 _'Jerk.'_ Kai thought.

As Jaune walked onto the stage holographic images of him and Cardin were shown on two parallel sides above the platform.

"May the best man win." Cardin said.

"Same to you." Jaune replied.

Cardin scoffed. "I was talking about me."

"Oh…" Jaune responded nervously.

Goodwitch walked off the podium and the lights dimmed.

"Begin!"

Jaune charged in head first with his sword raised giving a loud battle cry. Cardin smirked and stepped to the side lifting his mace up, while pushing his left leg out to trip Jaune up before hitting him in the face with his mace as he was falling increasing the pain, he knocked Jaune into the air and he fell hard on his back. Jaune got himself up and used his shield to block a downward swing from Cardin, then Cardin stepped on Jaune's foot making him drop his guard before slamming his mace against his side knocking him down again. Jaune got back up to his feet again and panted in place with a droopy posture. Cardin stood in front of him with his mace over his shoulder laughing at him.

"Come on…" Jaune panted before charging at him again missing his sword swing when Cardin dodged to the left allowing him to get behind Jaune. As Jaune turns around Cardin swings at him and knocks him across the floor making Jaune drop his shield. Jaune got up and charged at Cardin performing a downward slash which Cardin blocked with his mace locking them in a struggle.

"This is the part where you lose." Cardin taunted.

"Over my dead-" Jaune got kneed in the chest cutting him off, causing him to drop his sword and fall on his side. Cardin stood over him with his mace held high ready to finish him off when a buzzer goes off and the rooms lights turn back on.

"Cardin, that's enough." Goodwitch tells him as she walks back on the platform. Cardin's aura hadn't been touched while Jaune's was low and in the red. "Students as you can see Mr Arc's aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament style duel, this would indicate Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match."

Pyrrha looked slightly concerned and Kai had his fists clenched.

"Mr Arc, it's been weeks now, please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack or when it's better to move to a more… Defensive strategy." Jaune looked at his scroll just to see how low his aura was and he sighed. "We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?"

"Speak for yourself..." Cardin commented.

 _'That's it!'_ Kai quickly walked to the edge of the podium. "Miss Goodwitch, I want to fight next!"

"While I appreciate the enthusiasm. If you could please wait patiently you'll be sure to get a match at some point."

"Actually, I was already thinking of someone to fight. Someone who still has full aura and is currently on the podium."

Goodwitch quickly caught on to the fact that Kai was talking about Cardin and based on his tone she knew that this was personal.

"Mr Emblem, Cardin has just had a sparring match. Perhaps you should go against someone who's yet to-"

"Now hold on a minute." Cardin interrupted. "If this punk wants to take me on I'll gladly accept… On one condition."

 _'Why do I get the feeling that this one condition is going to be completely unfair?'_

"If I beat you then you give me those freaks of nature. All of them!"

The Amphitheatre burst out into loud murmurs, discussing Cardin's bet. Kai just stood there with a serious face.

 _'This guy needs to be taught a lesson… But I can't risk losing my family. Even if I knew I could definitely win, I still wouldn't bet them away like that!'_

Kai breathed in and out slowly trying to control his emotions, his fists were tightly clenched and he stared at the ground, his fedora hiding his face.

"What's the matter, are ya chicken?" Cardin taunted.

"That's enough, if Mr Emblem has changed his mind then that's fine. You and Mr Arc need to exit the platform." Goodwitch said trying to control the situation.

Kai was ready to walk away when he felt something. Around his belt he felt his Pokémon moving around and while he couldn't hear their voices he knew exactly what they meant.

"You're on!" Kai shouted triumphantly getting onto the platform.

"Mr Emblem I insist that you-"

"Didn't you say that anyone could fight in your lesson as long as it's consensual? Well it seems consensual to me." Kai told her as Cardin looked on grinning to show he was in agreement.

Goodwitch saw Kai's determined expression and knew that this had to be done. She reluctantly stepped down as Cardin and Kai's images appeared.

"What are you doing Kai? I said its fine- really." Jaune stated.

"Jaune this isn't about you. This is about me teaching this jerk a lesson." Kai pulled out a Poké ball and threw it. "Greninja, its show time!" Greninja appeared out of the ball and turned to Cardin.

"Hold on a minute! We can't go through with this bet yet!" He exclaimed.

"Finally realised you could never beat me?" Cardin taunted.

"No, it's just if we're going to put ourselves on the line we need something from you." Greninja explained.

"What do you have in mind?" Kai asked.

"Oh I thought you'd never ask." Greninja jumped and stood directly in front of Cardin making him gulp. "If we beat you, then for the rest of the semester… You wear a combat skirt!"

The class ' _oooed'_ and laughed at Greninja's challenge. Gaining particular attention from teams RWBY and JNPR.

"I don't know who that frog is, but I like his sense of humour." Yang complimented.

"I'm honestly surprised he even took the challenge in the first place." Weiss moaned.

"I doubt that he's gonna go through with giving them up even if he loses, he's just there to fight that jerk!" Nora gleefully explained.

"I don't think so." Ren stated calmly. "I think that Kai is a man of his word, if he does lose then I think he would end up giving his Pokémon away. He seems to be taking this very personally."

"Why would he even do that?!" Nora questioned.

"Because he's standing up for the people he cares about." Ruby stated watching Jaune walk off the stage.

"Whatever's going to happen, Kai can't afford to lose this time." Pyrrha assured.

Meanwhile Russel and the remaining members of team CRDL all moved together to another part of the crowd, getting followed by a certain bow-wearing huntress.

"Well? What's the matter all bark and no bite?" Greninja mocked.

"Fine, I accept. And when I beat you and take you for myself, the first thing I'm gonna do is teach you some respect." Cardin explained.

"We'll see about that." Kai responded.

The lights dimmed leaving the two huntsman and Pokémon alone.

"Begin!"

"Let's start off strong! **Greninja use Water Shuriken!** " Kai commanded.

Greninja entered his crouched battle stance and formed water from the shuriken patterns on his legs and shaped it in his front feet, throwing three shurikens at Cardin in rapid fire. Cardin was surprised by the priority and nature of the attack but braced the attack mostly unharmed.

"You think a little water will beat me?" He mocked. Cardin charged at Greninja slamming him with the mace.

" **Greninja use Aerial Ace!** " Greninja clenched his right front foot and it glowed light blue. He punched Cardin right in his chest plate before giving him a golden uppercut in the same spot. Cardin felt the impact but recovered quickly, hitting Greninja in the face with his mace knocking him flat on the floor.

"Umm Kai? Don't know if you noticed but- hitting him isn't working!" Greninja complained and Kai placed his chin on his fist in thought.

 _'Greninja's right. Weiss took way more damage from Aegislash than Greninja's doing to Cardin. Normally I'd chock it up to type matchup but that doesn't apply in Remnant… Unless!'_

"It's his armour!" Kai exclaimed. "As long as you hit there then he might have defensive properties similar to Steel types!"

Greninja got up on his feet and eyed Cardin down, scowling at his cocky grin and laugh.

"So Aerial Ace won't do much huh. Kai!"

"Way ahead of you! **Greninja use Night Slash!** " Greninja clenched both of his front feet in front of him and pulled his right one upwards creating a dark blade of energy, making it look like he was unsheathing a sword.

"Let's see you deal with this!" Greninja gave a battle cry and moved so fast that Cardin never had a chance to react, Greninja slashed at Cardin right in his chest and knocked him down against the edge of the podium. "Oh hohoho, yeah. That's more like it! I always did prefer Night Slash over Aerial Ace when fighting up close."

Cardin got himself up and looked at Greninja angrily. He ran at Greninja and swung his mace at his left side.

"Greninja jump to dodge! **Then use Night Slash when you're falling down!** " Kai instructed. Greninja jumped at the last moment making Cardin lose his balance leaving him open. Greninja reformed his blade and rotated in the air before delivering a downwards-diagonal slash dealing a critical hit knocking Cardin back against the wall the podium was in front of.

"So now that we've traded blows how about we get to know each other. What's your favourite colour? What's your star sign? Do you like long walks on the beach?" Greninja asked. Cardin slowly got himself up and growled. "Oh no not Growl! Oh what am I gonna do with minus one attack, except you can't even do that right. Phew for a moment there I was afraid that you know… You might be as strong as you make out to be. Good thing you're just like all the other jerks out there, picking on others to hide your own insecurities."

"SHUT UP!" Cardin's mace clicked and he slammed it against the ground creating a fiery trail that exploded when it hit Greninja. Cardin smiled and laughed until he saw Greninja looking no worse for wear on the other side.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

From the arena floor, people were laughing at Cardin and cheering Kai and Greninja, which really ticked Cardin off. Cardin looked at the class and squinted his eyes just letting him see his team, he nodded his head and his teammates grouped up.

"Dove. Sky. You know what to do." Russel ordered

The three of them split up, Russel going one way with Dove and Sky going another. The two huntsman in training didn't get far though when they were cut off.

"What do you think you two are doing?" Blake asked suspiciously. The two members of team CRDL didn't answer and just tried to get past Blake, but she wasn't letting anyone through her.

 _'Don't these guys know when enough is enough, I know they're on the same team as Cardin but- wait!"_ Blake thought and realised that Russel wasn't with them.

"Where's your teammate?" Blake spoke intimidatingly making the two teammates walk back panicked. Sky in particular hid behind his teammate and quickly pointed to Russel's location. While it was difficult for most people in the current lighting, Blake could see that Russel was standing very close to where Kai was on the podium, and in his hands were a pair of daggers that held different vials of dust. Blake realised what their plan was and she left Dove and Sky alone as she started pushing through the class to get to Russel.

Meanwhile back on stage, the fight was still going on.

" **Night Slash!** " Kai declared and Greninja delivered a downwards swing which Cardin blocked with his mace locking the two in a struggle.

"What was that thing you said before?" Greninja asked. "Oh I remember."

"Greninja his knee!"

Cardin thrust his knee at Greninja but Greninja stopped his attack and got out of the way, making Cardin propel himself forward and land on his side.

"This is the part where you lose." Greninja mocked.

Cardin got on his hands and knees and looked past Kai at Russel, giving him a reassuring look. Russel lifted one of his daggers up and blue electricity started to generate around it.

"Kai behind you!" Blake warned. Kai didn't seem to hear her and he stood in ignorance looking at the aura images. Cardin's was down to a third of his full amount and was a slightly dark shade of amber, while Kai's was still completely green.

 _'This is too easy.'_ Kai thought to himself. _'Wait it is too easy. Cardin's planning something.'_ Kai kept his wits about him trying to think about what Cardin might be planning unknown to the fact that right behind him was Russel ready to strike.

"Um Kai. I need you to tell me to attack him you know." Greninja stated. "I mean I could fight by myself but, this is just better."

"You think you're so strong don't you." Cardin taunted as he got up. "You think that nothing will hurt that wimp you serve."

"Have you ever tried not being a jerk. Could you try that once for…? Ten minutes. Ten minutes of you trying to be nice."

"You're owner is nothing but a pathetic loser, that's why he makes you do all his work. In fact without you… He couldn't even watch his own back." Cardin exaggerated that last part, and Greninja caught onto it. He quickly turned to look at Kai and behind him Greninja could faintly see light blue sparks.

 _'Oh no!'_ Greninja thought. He completely forgot about Cardin and rushed over to Kai's side as fast he could move.

"Greninja?" Kai said confused.

"Move!" Greninja pulled Kai away from his spot and took his place. Kai was very confused for a moment, until Greninja was suddenly shocked with electricity.

"Jaaaaaaaaa!" Greninja screamed.

"GRENINJA!" Kai shouted.

The electricity around Greninja disappeared and faint smoke was coming off him. He wobbled before his legs gave up and he started to collapse.

 _'Of course he had to hit me with an electric type attack. Of course he did.'_ Greninja thought as he fell flat on his front.

The class all recoiled in surprise, Blake in particular faced the ground with her fist clenched, guilty that she was unable to stop them. The rest of teams RWBY and JNPR stood with either open jaws or clasping their hands over their mouths in surprise. Kai walked over to his partner and crouched down to meet him.

"Greninja… I-"

Kai was hit hard in the face and he fell on his back. Kai barely had time to process when he had to roll on his side to avoid another attack.

"How unfortunate." Cardin said sarcastically in between swings.

"You did this!" Kai accused.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was up here the entire time. You can't prove anything." Cardin got up close and kicked Kai in his gut while he was down, making him spit. Kai tried kicking Cardin but he just stood on Kai's leg putting his weight down making him squirm.

"See how weak and pathetic you really are." Cardin kicked Kai again with his free leg before putting his mace down and picking Kai up by his shirt in his two hands. "I knew that your freaky frog would try to protect you, but that idiot left you all alone to do so leaving you wide open. You're nothing without your freak show, remember that. And after I beat you, I'll be sure to take real good care of them." That last comment made Kai snap and he punched Cardin right in his face, making him drop Kai to the ground.

"Keep talking all you want, just know that it won't affect me, and I won't ever let you take my family away!" Kai declared to Cardin as he picked his mace back up.

"Then it's time we finish this." Cardin held his mace in the air and Kai briefly looked at his aura level. Despite only getting hit now his aura was already lower than Cardin's. His was now dark amber and only a quarter of his maximum, one good hit was all Cardin needed to win.

 _'I'm not going to lose this fight. Even if I only have myself, I need to carry on: for Jaune and everyone else this guy picked on. For my team who stuck themselves on the line so I could challenge him. For Greninja who took the hits to protect me. And for myself, to show that I deserve to be here!'_

Cardin ran at Kai to build up momentum and Kai raised his arms up to defend himself and counter attack. Out of the darkness came a bright blue saucer that cut Cardin off by cutting into his chest.

"What was-?"

A second saucer appeared from Cardin's blind side and hit him again knocking him further back. When Cardin recovered he looked down at his armour and saw that the bird symbol on his chest plate had a large 'X-shaped' cut made in it… And was dripping.

Cardin's face was filled with rage and he shouted at the class. "Who did this?!"

His answer fell from the air and it made him go wide eyed and gape his mouth. In front of him was Greninja, but something was different. His entire body was glowing and surrounded by a continuously flowing blue aura, that resembled raging rapids. If you listened closely, you could almost hear the sound of waves crashing.

Greninja smirked. "You done goofed."

Cardin tried walking back but felt the bottom of his foot on the edge of the podium. "Wh- What the hell even are you?!"

"You know I would say your worst nightmare but…" Greninja walked over to Kai so that they were side by side. "I bet I would make even that tremble in fear."

Cardin was shaking, he had no idea what kind of monster Greninja was and he had nowhere to run. Cardin then noticed the holographic images.

 _'Wait a minute. I don't need to beat that monster. If I can just hit that wimp a couple more times then I win.'_ Cardin thought and raised his mace.

"Stay here." Greninja went to walk away but Kai grabbed his right front leg.

"No way Greninja. This is my fight, and I'm gonna finish it." Kai looked at Greninja with a determined expression and Greninja smiled.

"Okay, together then."

"Perfect."

Cardin had enough of this display and slammed his mace on the ground sending an explosive trail Kai's way.

"Greninja take me up!" Greninja grabbed Kai's waist and jumped into the air carrying him avoiding the attack. " **Now** **Aerial Ace!** " Greninja let go of Kai and one of his front feet went light blue, and he dived out of the air with a golden trail. Cardin tried to run away but you can't avoid Aerial Ace, so Greninja struck him from behind and rolled with him when they fell to the floor. He grabbed hold of Cardin and when he rolled forwards, he threw him with the extra momentum. Cardin was helpless in the air as Kai landed on the ground and stuck out his right arm, catching Cardin's legs making him perform a 360° flip before landing on his back winded.

"… Why… You…"

" **Water Shuriken!** " Kai commanded. Greninja formed two stars of water in his front feet without needing to apply pressure first and pushed them together making them grow in size before throwing out five shurikens! Cardin got up and dodged the first two but Kai threw a sucker punch throwing Cardin off and letting him get hit by the next two and then block the last one with his mace… Only for his mace to be split in half.

"I hope you've got that insured." Greninja said jokingly. Cardin threw what was left of his mace away and took a couple steps back. "What's wrong? Kai here had me lying limp on the floor and he still carried on fighting. What's your excuse?"

"Don't worry I've got this." Kai pulled out his Pokédex and played Talonflame's cry just like he did before. "Hey Cardin, remember this?"

Cardin soon realised that Kai was referring to this morning and how he must have used that device to scare him off instead of actually having Talonflame there. Cardin felt humiliated and more notably very, very angry and ran screaming at Kai in blind rage.

"Makes sense he's running at you like that. Playing a cry that annoying, I'm almost tempted to hurt you myself."

"So, do you wanna say it?" Kai asked ignoring Greninja's previous comment.

"You should say it, this is your fight."

"But he electrocuted you with a dirty trick."

"But you hate him more."

"But he hurt you more."

Cardin was nearly at them, charging in with rage in his eyes.

"Together." They agreed in unison.

Greninja formed a ball of water in his right front foot that emanated a faint trail of steam. Cardin threw a punch at Kai when Greninja got in the way.

" **Scald!** " The two shouted in unison. A geyser of boiling water shot out from Greninja's foot and carried Cardin off the platform, in the air, and across the room until he was pinned just above the doors of the Amphitheatre.

"All right that's enough." Kai told Greninja. Greninja nodded and stopped shooting out water letting Cardin fall to the floor. He was drenched, steaming and while his aura protected his skin it was still bright red.

A buzzer went off and the lights went back on revealing to everyone the reality of what just happened.

"Wow, he really just beat him." Ruby admired.

"He still should have broken his legs." Nora critiqued.

"At least he finally got what he deserved." Yang agreed.

Blake made her way through the class back to her team.

"And where did you run off too?" Weiss asked.

"Nowhere in particular, I just had some misplaced worries." Blake answered.

"See Jaune if he really is bullying you then we can-" Pyrrha tried to say but found that Jaune was already gone. "Jaune?"

Miss Goodwitch walked onto the podium. "Now, now settle down. Mr Emblem I suppose I should congratulate you. You have somewhat improved from your previous performance."

"Somewhat." Greninja repeated in a disagreeing tone.

"Not really, there's been quite the skill gap between my opponents." Kai commented.

"Mr Emblem, everyone here has been accepted into this school from their own abilities, everyone here is equal in skill from our perspective. Now if you could."

Miss Goodwitch gestured for Kai to move down so she could get in the middle.

"Oh, right sorry. Greninja return." Kai returned Greninja to his Poké ball and got off the podium. "I owe ya one." He whispered.

Goodwitch stood in the middle of the podium so everyone could see her. "Remember everyone! The Vytal festival is only a few months away it won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."

 _'So just like the Pokémon league tournament huh, sounds fun. Shame I don't exactly qualify.'_ Kai thought to himself.

The bell went to signal the end of the class and everyone quickly left the room, ignoring the defeated Cardin as they left. However Jaune Arc had his head down and was deep in the crowd away from all of his friends.

 _'I can't believe this.'_ Jaune thought. _'Kai seemed as new as me when he got here, and he just beat Cardin. Why is everyone here leagues above me?'_

* * *

 **So what did you think of the chapter. Honestly the Kai + Greninja vs Cardin fight is maybe my favourite fight scene I've written, so I hope you liked it as well. Also when I described the fight taking place on the smaller platform, that's because it does in Volume 1, throughout this story I will be trying to fix any potential plot holes or rewrites in the show. One other example was how in the previous chapter you see Weiss place her fingers on her sword to indicate dust switches like she did in Volume 5.**

 **I should have my laptop fixed by next week so until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	8. Chapter 7: Knowledge is power

**Hello again denizens of the internet it's Kallerston.**

 **Firstly I'm happy to report that my laptop has been successfully fixed which is a huge relief.**

 **Second is that if you've checked my profile you may have noticed a section devoted to "Trainer to Huntsman", I've seen other authors do this with their Fanfiction and I decided to do the same so that any loyal or new readers can get a good look at the details and characters easily.**

 **Finally before we begin we have the usual questions:**

 **Jyoster: While not the first to express this concern, you are the first to ask. Kai will be getting a weapon! I have decided on that, I also have an idea of the what the weapon is and when I will introduce it. So until then you just need to be patient. As for if he's going to get any help with making or training it, well that would be telling. ;)**

* * *

 **-Afternoon, Beacon Academy-**

"There we were… In the middle of the night…"

"It was day…"

Nora was going on another one of her stories at lunch and once again Ren was correcting them. Yang was invested, Blake was reading a book, Weiss was filing her nails, Jaune was distracted picking aimlessly at his food, Ruby and Pyrrha were looking at him concerningly and Kai wasn't even there.

"We were surrounded by Ursai."

"They were Beowolves."

"DOZENS OF THEM!"

"Two of em'…"

"But they were no match and, in the end… Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

"Ah… She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now…"

Ruby and Pyrrha looked at each other and then back at Jaune.

"Jaune… Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked.

"Uh?" Jaune responded. "Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little… Not okay…" Ruby answered.

"Eh, guys, I'm fine…" Jaune said unconvincingly. "Seriously look!" Jaune pointed at his painfully smiling face with his thumb and nervously laughed. Everyone suddenly heard laughing and turned to see Cardin and the rest of his team laughing and mocking a faunus girl with long brown hair and a pair of rabbit ears, who was wearing the school uniform.

"Jaune, we talked about this earlier but, you need to realise that Cardin's been picking on you. He's done it since the first week of school." Pyrrha reminded.

"Nah… He just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes."

"Like when he got one of his teammates to put dirt down your shirt so that you would have to fight him." Ruby asked.

"Exactly!" Jaune exclaimed.

"You need to stop making excuses Jaune." Pyrrha stated. "If you need help-"

"I don't need anybody's help really. Can we just change the subject?"

Cardin however was still mocking the girl.

"Man could you imagine how it must feel to wake up every morning just knowing how much of an abomination you are? I mean just look at those things." Cardin insulted.

"What, those things are definitely fake. There's no way anybody could be born that freaky." Russel stated with a grin.

"Of course, they're real. Watch I can prove it." Cardin went to grab one of the girls' rabbit ears.

"Please don't…" The girl whimpered.

Cardin reached out his hand when another one grabbed it.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Kai asked disapprovingly.

"What I'm just having a chat with a good friend, now if you could just leave, that would be great."

Kai shook his head disapprovingly. "Look Cardin I don't know what you have against this girl but do yourself a favour and drop it."

"It's not my fault that freaks like her can roam around in public places, if it were up to me I'd lock em' in a zoo. Wait that's too generous, a freak show would be more appropriate."

The girl looked down upset and Kai pieced together what happened, his calm demeanour turned vicious.

"Cardin, please tell me I'm wrong. But are you solely picking on this girl because she's a faunus?"

"So, what if I am, what are you gonna do about it? I figured it out in our fight, you're too afraid of getting into trouble, that's why you didn't actually send out your bird freak-"

Kai punched Cardin in the face. He tumbled off his seat and hit the ground. The rest of his team and the girl were all shocked and the sound of him falling gained everyone's attention.

"Is that… Kai?" Ruby asked.

"Why's he over there, and why is Cardin on the floor?" Jaune asked.

"I think he's defending that girl." Blake stated.

Everyone looked down at Cardin to see blood from running from his nose.

"I know that this isn't the best thing to say since I'm trying to say bullying is wrong. But maaan! That felt good!"

"Oh, you're dead!" Cardin said getting up. He snapped his fingers and Dove, Russel and Sky walked at Kai intimidatingly.

"Are we really doing this? You're going to surround me of all people with numbers? All right then." Kai pressed the buttons on three of the balls on his belt and Greninja, Talonflame and Aegislash all came out at once with an attack against one of team CRDL's throats. Night Slash against Russel, Steel Wing against Dove, and Slash against Sky.

"You jerks never learn, do you?" Greninja bluntly said. "All right let's get this over with."

"Having to group up and rely on insults to give yourself strength. It makes me sick." Talonflame insulted.

"Fools like you are scum of the lowest calibre. Striking down the weak and defenceless to bolster your ego and insulting who they are like their mere existence were a plague. You are disgusting vermin and when I cut your throat, your very soul will tear for all eternity… By my blade." Aegislash threatened.

The rest of team CRDL were easily panicked and began to sweat. Sky in particular went pale and passed out, making the two sides back off.

"Oh dear." Aegislash turned to Kai. "Sire I believe he's passed out."

"Yes, I can see that Aegislash." Kai responded casually.

Dove and Russel looked at each other and ran out of the dining hall.

"It appears that the rest of his comrades have retreated."

"I can see that too Aegislash." Kai looked smugly at Cardin. "Well what's it gonna be? Are we just gonna stand here all day? Or are we gonna fight?"

Cardin looked at Kai and then at his team hovering over him before getting up and running away.

Talonflame scowled. "You think running away will save you! I'll crush you between my-"

"Let him go Talonflame." Kai ordered.

"WHAT?! But this guy deserves it!" Talonflame argued.

"True. Very true. But I think we've scared him enough, besides I've got more important stuff to do."

Kai walked over to the girl and looked at her sincerely. "Sorry about that. I got a little… Heated. Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, I'm fine…" The girl answered.

"Well you don't sound it. What's your name?"

"… Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina."

"Well Velvet, if anyone ever talks to you like that again I'll have your back. And don't let anyone treat you like that, if you don't like it, don't deal with it."

Velvet looked at Kai and managed to smile. "Thank you very much. I'm off to see my friends now."

"Well take care." Kai said goodbye as Velvet picked up her tray and left. Kai then turned to his team and thought for a moment. "You know what since you're out here, I might as well get you lunch- my treat."

Aegislash looked at her teammates then at Kai. "A generous offer Sire of which I'm sure we have much gratitude for. However we must gracefully decli-"

"Sure thing pal, if you say so." Greninja interrupted.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, this food isn't as great as you think." Talonflame complained.

Kai started heading back to get food when he turned his head. "Also, can one of you carry my tray and wait at the table? Thanks."

Kai walked off and Greninja made a bee line for team RWBY and JNPR's table, Talonflame flying after him, leaving Aegislash to sheath herself and carry Kai's tray.

"I don't believe we've met." Greninja said abruptly as he sat down. "Greninja, 'Ninja Pokémon', Water/Dark type, here's my card!" Greninja placed a card on the table which Ren cautiously picked up.

"This is a joker from a pack of playing cards." Ren revealed.

"Exactly."

Talonflame flew down directly on the table making the trays and plates clink.

"Hi it's nice to meet you again." Ruby greeted. Talonflame just ignored her.

"It's rude to ignore people you know." Weiss critiqued.

"It's also rude to try and cut people's heads off, or insulting someone's family bonds!" Talonflame argued. "But I'm not bringing that up am I?"

"A bigger man would let trivial matters go Talonflame." Aegislash commented placing Kai's tray down. "I find it admirable that Sire's strong moral fibre has allowed us to greet his comrades as allies. Despite some of their more… Insulting and foolish actions." Aegislash focused her single eye on Weiss.

Weiss stared back at her. "And what's that supposed to-"

Greninja cut Weiss off. "For the love of Arceus take the compliment!" Weiss settled down and the group sat in awkward silence. "All right I know how to read a room." Greninja started to say.

"That's debatable." Talonflame argued.

"Watch it flame brain I'm trying to be entertaining!"

"Do you really think that would help, you overgrown tadpole!"

"Well at least I'm trying, unlike a certain ruffled up feather duster!"

Greninja and Talonflame butted heads and the atmosphere became tense.

"I was afraid of this." Aegislash commented.

"Is this normal?" Blake asked.

"Unfortunately. Both Greninja and Talonflame were obtained at similar times, as such they share a powerful rivalry. It pushes themselves to greater feats, but can also create dire confrontations."

"Four feet!"

"Beak breath!"

"Frogspawn!"

"Hot head!"

"Tongue face!"

"Feather butt!"

The two growled at each other when a loud bang on the table separated their heads.

"CAN YOU TWO JUST BE CALM FOR TEN SECONDS?!" Yang shouted. Her hair looked like it was burning, and her eyes had changed from lilac to red. The entire hall seemed to go quiet and Greninja and Talonflame avoided eye sight with each other.

"… Fine." They grumbled simultaneously.

Aegislash placed a hand behind her back and bowed graciously at Yang. "My thanks Lady Yang."

Yang calmed down and her appearance returned to normal. "Lady?"

"Yeah in case it wasn't clear Aegislash has a habit of talking in old English." Greninja explained.

"How wasn't it obvious?!" Talonflame commented.

"So are we just going to ignore what happened over there just now?" Nora asked slowly and slightly exaggerated.

"Oh yeah that guy. He's like the world's worst nesting doll." Greninja explained. "Each layer gets worse and worse: verbal abuse, mean jokes, physical violence, playing dirty and now borderline racism. How did he get in here again?"

"Atrocious." Pyrrha stated. "I can't stand people like him."

"He's not the only one." Blake uttered with distaste.

"Must be tough being a faunus." Yang said sympathetically.

"Honestly makes me wonder why they don't fight back. By all accounts they're stronger." Talonflame commented.

"Except they did, and people went to war over it, but people like Cardin still exist." Blake answered.

"Then why did they stop fighting?! When you're in a fight you don't back down, you fight till the end! Sounds to me that most faunus don't have the guts!"

"They didn't stop fighting." Blake answered bitterly.

"Yeah it's just the ones that do fight are a little crazy." Greninja commented.

"You mean the White Fang?" Yang asked.

"Bingo."

"They don't count." Talonflame corrected. "They aren't fighting for equality, they're fighting for destruction and vengeance. They have no pride, they're low life's that need to group up to make themselves strong against others. If he weren't human I'd say that jerk would be a perfect fit."

"That's not all they are." Blake clenched her fist.

"Blake are you okay? You look like you're getting upset." Ruby asked concerned.

Kai then suddenly sat down on the table bringing the conversation to a holt.

"So what did I miss?" Kai asked innocently and ignorantly.

"Nothing." Blake answered calmly and started to relax. "Nothing important."

"So where's the grub?" Greninja asked.

Kai slid a bowl full of fruit with a metal spoon in it to Greninja. "One fruit salad."

"With?"

"Extra everything."

"My man!" Greninja grabbed the spoon and started shovelling mouthfuls of fruit. Kai grabbed a chicken leg and held it in the air.

"One-" Kai said before an orange blur flew past him and out the window taking the chicken leg with them. "Guess Talonflame's had enough conversation for today. And for Aegislash…"

"Wait, that sword needs to eat?" Weiss asked confused.

"I do. Just as every other living thing needs to, to survive Lady Weiss." Aegislash answered with a hint of sass.

"Bell… Bumlivbin em, dis cas. (Well… Unliving in, this case.) Greninja said with a full mouth.

"Greninja it is impolite table etiquette to speak with your mouth full."

"Beh, beh. (Yeah, yeah.)"

Kai then placed a plate with: a rectangular orange packet, a butter knife, and a chunk of cheese in front of Aegislash.

"Cheese and crackers." Kai described.

"My sincerest gratitude sire." Aegislash thanked as she spread some cheese onto a cracker.

"How does that thing even eat?" Nora asked bluntly.

"I think we're about to find out." Ren answered.

As Aegislash was about to take a bite she found that most of Team RWBY and JNPR were looking at her with intrigue. She paused but took no heed to it as she lifted her blade slightly upwards and then brought it straight down, crunching a bit of the cracker in between her blade and her shield. She then repeated this process to eat the rest of her crackers.

"That's it!" Nora exclaimed. "I thought it would phase through her, or she'd have a hidden mouth or something."

"I apologise for disappointing you." Aegislash replied.

"So what now?" Yang asked with a bored tone and expression.

"Actually there is something I want to ask Kai about from the sparring lesson." Ruby answered.

"Okay, shoot." Kai told Ruby before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"What was that thing you had at the end that played that sound?"

Kai chewed his sandwich and swallowed when he realised what she meant. "I think it'd be better if I show you." Kai pulled out his Pokédex and held it in front of everyone. "This is my Pokédex. It holds information on all the Pokémon that you can find… At least the ones where I live."

"Really, wow."

This attracted the attention of the whole table, even Weiss and Blake who were only paying half attention at some points.

"In fact… Greninja, do you mind?"

Greninja swallowed a mouthful of fruit and turned to face the Pokédex. "Sure. Just be sure to get my good side."

Kai opened the device and explained how he was using it. "So when you need to identify a Pokémon you can either look through a database or if it is right in front of you, you can use this nifty scanner and-" The Pokédex recognised Greninja and a picture of him came up on the device along with an audio entry.

\- **Greninja, the Ninja Pokémon, and the final evolved form of Froakie. Greninja can** **compress water into sharp-edged throwing stars** **. With the grace of a ninja, it slips in and out of sight to attack from the shadows. -**

"That's so cool!" Ruby awed.

"It's accurate at least." Weiss commented.

"What did it mean by final evolved form?" Pyrrha asked.

"Most Pokémon aren't born at their… Maximum strength let's say. But when a Pokémon trains and gains enough experience in battle it transforms into a more powerful one." Kai explained.

"So if Greninja didn't look like that originally, what did it look like?" Ren asked.

"Like this." Kai showed everyone a picture of Froakie.

"AWW! HE'S- SO- CUTE!" Ruby cooed.

Greninja laughed. "I'm more than cute. I'm adorable."

"I think you're over reacting Ruby." Weiss critiqued. "It just has those big… Beady eyes… And that round face… AND THOSE CUTE WITTLE BUBBLES AROUND ITS HEAD!"

Kai smiled and shook his head. "Yep the Pokédex is pretty cool, contains everything you need to know about a Pokémon from: move pool to habitat, typing to abilities."

"Abilities?" Ruby asked.

"Right I haven't told you about that yet… In simple terms think of it like a Pokémon's semblance."

"Pokémon have semblances?" Weiss repeated confused.

"Not exactly. It's like a semblance in that it's a natural ability that Pokémon have, but it can only be activated under certain circumstances. For example, when Greninja started glowing earlier that was because of his ability 'Torrent' which increases his water type attacks when he has low health."

"So, it's kind of like mine." Yang interrupted. "I can take any damage I take and dish it back twice as hard, it kind of makes me unbeatable."

"We'll see about that." Greninja challenged.

"However, some abilities completely affect a Pokémon's fighting style; Aegislash's for example is 'Stance Change' which swaps her offensive and defensive properties depending on the move she uses." Kai continued.

"While in Shield Forme I gain tremendous defence to weather any blow my opponent may throw at me, but I am unable to attack. My Blade Forme however grants me tremendous strength but leaves me open to a powerful counter-attack. Managing my forms correctly is key for my victory or my defeat." Aegislash explained.

"Well that explains how I defeated you despite hardly hitting you." Weiss summarised.

"True it was a fatal mistake. Though if it weren't for you abusing my weakness to fire I'm sure that Sire would have been able to secure a swift victory over you."

"Just keep telling yourself that." Weiss and Aegislash glared at each other, each too proud to ignore the other.

"Hold on, what do you mean by weakness?" Blake asked. However, as she said it the bell rang signalling the end of lunch.

"That's a question for another day. But if I can ask one… Where's Jaune?" Kai asked.

"What do you mean Jaune's right-" Ruby looked to where Jaune was sitting only to see that him and his tray were gone almost as if he wasn't there in the first place. "… Here."

"That's odd, he was here before." Pyrrha stated.

"I guess he must have just left." Greninja assumed. "Kind of rude that he did before we even got to sit down."

Kai just shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't matter too much we both have Doctor Oobleck next."

"Sire I suggest that to avoid being late we make haste immediately. Past encounters have shown the doctor to start hastily after the lesson begins.

"Good point. Guess I'll have to find Talonflame later, right now you two return."

Kai returned his Pokémon and headed to lesson when he bumped into Velvet.

"Oh hey… Velvet right." Kai greeted

"Oh, Kai was it? I'd like to chat but right now I need to get to Doctor Oobleck's class." Velvet replied.

"Same, I didn't know you were first year though, I haven't seen you around."

"Well I am technically second year… But I failed the history exam so I was told that this year I need to take some re-sit lessons in his class." She explained awkwardly.

Kai stuttered trying to come up with something positive to say. "Oh… Well… That sucks- wait that came out wrong!"

Velvet chuckled. "It's fine really I-"

"Move it!" Cardin pushed through the two of them followed closely by his team all of them now wearing the school uniform.

"Great and now this lesson really does suck." Kai complained.

"It's fine, just because he's in our lesson doesn't mean we have to listen to him." Velvet explained.

"Good point, but I am disappointed that he didn't keep his word. Greninja's gonna be so disappointed to learn that he didn't wear the combat skirt."

Velvet started laughing. "Did he actually say he'd do that?"

"Yeah, after I beat him in a sparring match, I'll tell you about it later. Right now, we've got to survive being in a class with him above all else."

As Kai and Velvet carried on walking, Kai noticed Jaune in the crowd. He was going to call out to him but he noticed Kai first and went ahead even faster.

 _'_ _Something is definitely upsetting him.'_ Kai thought.

* * *

Doctor Oobleck's lesson was no different than when Kai first started. Lots of incredibly fast, almost inaudible talking that required intense concentration to keep up with. Kai had gotten a bit better at listening but he still often missed most of what Oobleck said. Still he was doing better than Jaune who was currently snoozing.

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War, humankind was quite, quite adamant in centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." Doctor Oobleck zoomed around the room taking a brief pause to take a drink (presumably coffee) before starting again. "Now! While I'm sure this may feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" Doctor Oobleck took another drink. "Now! Have any of you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?"

Velvet cautiously looked around before nervously raising her hand. Kai noticed and clenched his fists and looked over to see Cardin not paying much attention.

 _'_ _Get it together Kai, you've already beaten him twice today. Calm down.'_ Kai took some deep breathes and began to settle down.

"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck continued before taking another sip. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang!"

Kai went on alert after hearing those words. _'The White Fang! That's what Junior called those guys who were with Torchwick. I know they're a Faunus extremist group, but were they something else before that?'_ Kai didn't have more time to ponder when Oobleck zoomed across the room again.

"Now, which of you young scholars can tell me what theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" Oobleck asked. Weiss raised her hand near instantly. "Yes?"

"The battle at Fort Castle!" Weiss answered.

"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Cardin flicked a folded piece of paper landing on a sleeping Jaune's head.

"Hey!" Jaune cried annoyed rubbing his head.

Oobleck rushed directly over to Jaune's seat the moment he started talking. "Mr Arc! Finally contributing to this class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"

"Uhhhh… The answer… The advantage… of the Faunus… had over that guys stuff."

 _'_ _This is giving me first day flashbacks.'_ Kai thought.

Jaune struggled to think of something but noticed Pyrrha in the background gesturing him and cupping her hands around her eyes.

"Um, b- binoculars!" Jaune answered confidently as the rest of the students laughed particularly Cardin. Oobleck took another sip from his drink unamused and Pyrrha facepalmed.

 _'_ _The sad part is; as dumb as that sounds it's probably smarter than anything I could come up with.'_

"Very funny Mr Arc. Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!"

"Well I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." Cardin answered.

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha remarked.

"What? You got a problem?"

"No, I have the answer! It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark." Pyrrha answered and Cardin growled in annoyance.

"General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched and the general was captured." Blake explained as Oobleck nodded and took another sip of his drink. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

The students _oooed_ and Cardin got up enraged.

 _'_ _Oh, someone better have a burn heal.'_

"Mr Winchester! Please take your seat." Oobleck ordered disgruntled.

Jaune snickered when Oobleck zoomed up to him. "You, Mr Arc and Mr Emblem can see me after class for additional readings."

"Ohh." Jaune moaned as Oobleck took another sip.

 _'_ _Wait what did I do? I demand an attorney.'_

"Now! Moving on!"

* * *

Class finished and everyone was starting to make their way out of the classroom.

"You go on ahead. I'll wait for Jaune." Pyrrha told her teammates.

In the lecture hall Jaune, Cardin and Kai all had seats reasonably close to each other and Dr Oobleck stood at the front taking a sip of his drink.

"You three have been struggling in my class since day one, or in Kai's case day seven or nine! Now, I don't know if it's lack of interest or just your stubborn nature, but whatever it is." He paused to take a drink. "It stops now! You've worked hard to gain entrance into this school, and we only accept the best of the best, so! I expect you to act like it. History is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it… You're destined to repeat it. Pages fifty-one to ninety-one! I want an essay on my desk by next class! Now! Run along." Oobleck did just that and ran out of the room at Mach speed. Cardin got up and walked out, not paying much attention to Jaune or Kai and muttered under his breath. Jaune was about to leave as well when Kai stopped him.

"Jaune wait a minute."

"Look Kai I really need to go-"

"You've been avoiding me!" Kai stated and Jaune stopped in place.

"What?" Jaune nervously laughed. "I don't know what you're talking abou-"

"Combat practice, lunch, on the way to class, even now. Don't think I haven't noticed." Jaune turned around and looked Kai in the eye.

"All right fine I've been avoiding you."

"Okay… Why?"

"… I don't need this." Jaune tried to walk away but Kai stopped him.

"Is this about Cardin?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?!"

"Because clearly you are upset and he keeps bullying you! If you want to deal with him-"

"I don't need anyone's help especially not yours!"

"… And what's that supposed to mean?"

Jaune stepped back and sighed. "When I first met you, you were clueless and struggled just as much as me. But you've barely been here at all, you came here late and you're already better than me!"

"So that's what this is about! Jealousy! Pride! I hate to break it to you but I'm still struggling! And I'm sure in many ways your better than me!"

"Then how did you beat Cardin?!"

"With help from- MY TEAM! I couldn't do this without them!"

"Well unfortunately for me I don't have any Pokémon or else I might actually stand a chance."

Kai frowned then took some deep breaths to calm himself. "You have a team as well you know. And they're willing to help you, you just need to let them." Kai stated as he walked out of the room.

"I don't need anyone's help I'm fine on my own!" Jaune argued back.

Kai turned his head back. "No, you're not." He said coldly before walking out.

Jaune yelled in frustration and kicked one of the tables before clutching his foot in pain.

 _'_ _At least I have a study period next. I should finally get some alone time then.'_ Jaune thought.

Jaune walked out the room when he was shoved onto the ground by a nearby Cardin.

"OOHF! OW!"

"Heh." Cardin chuckled as he left.

Pyrrha went over to Jaune and helped to pick him up.

"Ah."

"You know, I really will break his legs." Pyrrha told Jaune only for him to sigh. Pyrrha's face then lightened up. "I have an idea! Here come with me!" Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's arm and unwillingly dragged him away.

"AAUHA!"

* * *

Pyrrha and Jaune walked out onto the roof of the building to the sound of crickets chirping and the early night sky (must be the time of year). The two of them stared at Beacon's glowing tower in the distance.

"Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not… THAT depressed." Jaune commented as he looked down the edge of the building. "I could always be a farmer or something…"

Pyrrha looked down as well and quickly realised Jaune's slightly horrific thought. "N-No!" Pyrrha yelled shoving Jaune further back. "That's not why I brought you up here! Jaune I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so…" Pyrrha took a sharp breath. "I want to help you!"

"W- what?" Jaune replied confused.

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!"

"You think I need help?"

"N- no! No, that's not what I meant."

"But you just said it."

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon, that speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" Pyrrha complimented.

Jaune turned away depressed. "You're wrong…" He sighed. "I- I don't belong here."

"That's a terrible thing to say, of course you do!"

"No, I don't!" Jaune sighed again and Pyrrha looked concerned.

 _'_ _Guess I'll have to tell her now.'_

"I wasn't really accepted into Beacon."

"Wh- what do you mean?"

"I mean I didn't go to Combat School! I didn't pass any tests! I didn't earn my spot at this academy." Jaune turned to face Pyrrha. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts and I lied."

"What? But, why?

"'Cause, this is what I always wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one too. I was just never good enough."

"Then let me help you." Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's arm and he jerked away violently. "I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"

"Jaune! I-"

"I am tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in a tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand?! If I can't do this on my own… Then what good am I?" Pyrrha went to grab Jaune but he just went further away. "Just, leave me alone. Okay?"

"If that's what you think is best." Pyrrha replied before walking away.

Jaune walked alone to the sound of crickets chirping when he heard a snide laugh behind him.

"Oh Jaune…" Cardin greeted as he climbed up onto the roof.

"Cardin?!"

"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say Jaune I never expected you to be such a rebel."

"Please! Cardin, please, don't tell anyone!"

"Jaune! Come on! I'd never rat out a friend like that!"

"Uh, a friend?" Jaune said cautiously as Cardin walked towards him getting him in a headlock.

"Of course! We're friends now, Jauney boy! And the way I see it as long as your there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." Cardin let go of Jaune and Jaune gasped for air as he landed on his hands and knees. "That being said… I really don't have time to do those extra readings Doctor Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?" Cardin kneeled down stroking Jaune's head before getting up. "That's what I thought. Don't worry Jaune; your secret's safe with me." Cardin climbed of the roof leaving Jaune all alone, unaware to a single feather landing next to him and a familiar bird hovering above his head.

"… Pathetic." Talonflame growled and flew off.

* * *

 **Dun, Dun, Dun! ... Sorry that was corny. Either way what did you think of this chapter? Now that Jaunedice is over, next up is Forever Fall, though I always saw them as one and the same.**

 **Also I have an announcement! I now have a Deviant Art account! Now this may not seem like much and it probably isn't, but on this account you'll see drawings based of this story. So far a drawing of Kai is up there but over time more drawings will be added, including maybe a few personal drawings maybe? Link is below if you want to check it out. (And yes I know links don't work, I've tried to make it work but couldn't, just type it in long hand or do a search on Deviant Art if you're really interested).**

art/Trainer-to-Huntsman-Kai-Emblem-Trainer-Attire-79149241

 **So until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	9. Chapter 8: The parfume of leadership

**Greetings denizens, welcome back. I'm a little disappointed that the last chapter didn't get a lot of reviews but in the long run I suppose that doesn't matter too much, I didn't start writing just to be popular. Regardless here are last chapters questions:**

 **Jyoster: As I have said before, if this story continues past the second arc there will be several more unique arcs as well as arcs following the canon. RWBY has a surprising amount of time skipped the show, not helped by how it doesn't mention specific timeframes except that the first three volumes take place in different seasons. So expect me to be trying to fill those gaps with my own story.**

* * *

 **-Night, Beacon Academy-**

Jaune was waiting cautiously on the same roof he confessed his secret to Pyrrha and unintentionally Cardin several nights ago. Since that night Jaune had to do any job that Cardin deemed fit: completing homework, buying miscellaneous goods out of his own pocket, even doing his team's laundry.

"Come on, come on. Where are you?" Jaune nervously chanted to himself.

"Quit your whining."

Jaune turned around startled to see Cardin climb up onto the roof.

"Where were you, I've been waiting for two hours?!"

"I had important stuff to do, but if you're really unhappy we could stop being friends." Cardin explained with malice. "Of course, that would mean I would have to reveal your secret."

"Please, please don't do that." Jaune begged, and Cardin just laughed.

"I'm only messing. Come on- laugh." Jaune nervously laughed along. "Now then, onto business." Cardin poked Jaune in the chest. "I'm running low on dust and I'm not gonna waste my hard-earned allowance on something so trivial."

"But I've already spent every Lien I've had getting you other stuff."

"Really well that's too bad. Buuut, you are friends with that Schnee girl. I'm sure that she has plenty of dust."

Jaune sighed. "Look I doubt that Weiss is just going to hand me some just because I asked her. She's sophisticated, and proper and-"

"Who said anything about asking."

Jaune's eyes widened then drooped. "Oh, you want me to steal some."

"Hey- hey. Those are your words, not mine. Got it." Jaune went to say something but saw Cardin's serious glare and backed down. "Good, I'll expect it by the end of the week. Right pal?" Jaune just stayed silent and Cardin laughed to himself as he started climbing down the roof. Jaune looked down at his feet and sighed again, he started to walk when out of nowhere something hit him in his back driving him onto the roof.

"OW- WOW- OW!"

"Shut up and quit your whining!" A familiar violent voice yelled at him.

"That voice, aren't you-" Jaune felt his head get pushed down by sharp talons as Talonflame stood on him.

"Yeah, it's me." Talonflame said with hatred. "Well, aren't you gonna get up?"

Jaune struggled in place. "I… I can't."

"Can't! Or won't?!" Embers started emitting from Talonflame's body and he seemed to start glowing red and orange. "Hmm, things are starting to get toasty up here, aren't they?"

"Please… Stop it…"

"Make me!" Talonflame's heat made Jaune uncomfortable, just a bit longer and he would be in a lot of trouble. "Huh?" A flash of blue caught Talonflame's eye and he flew into the air to dodge it.

"What the-?"

"YOU!"

Standing on the edge of the roof was Greninja, staring at Talonflame with distaste.

"Get moving Jaune. Talonflame and I need to have… A family meeting." Greninja stated calmly.

Jaune looked at the two of them with a panicked expression on his face.

"Actually, why don't you stay?! That way you can fend me off yourself! That's what you wanted wasn't it- TO NOT NEED ANYONE ELSE TO SAVE YOU!" Talonflame shouted. Jaune panicked and ran through the door away from the roof, Talonflame sighed. "I knew it."

"What is your problem Talonflame?!" Greninja berated. "I mean really, you've always been a jerk but this! THIS! And this isn't even the first time."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Talonflame denied as Greninja raised a brow.

* * *

 _Jaune was whistling nervously on the main avenue when something hit him in the back of the head knocking him on his front._

 _"_ _AH! OOF!" Jaune lifted his head slightly to see a bird in the distance._

* * *

 _Jaune was about to eat a sandwich when an orange blur snatched it out of his hand._

 _"_ _Huh?" Jaune said when he bit into the air. He went to grab his drink only to reach at nothing, then he looked down and saw his tray had disappeared. "What?!"_

* * *

 _Jaune was walking along carefully, looking around every corner for danger before walking slowly and cautiously. He then sighed in relief and relaxed when he felt something fall on his head, he touched it and felt something wet._

 _"_ _Ew- EW- EEEEWWW!"_

* * *

Greninja and Talonflame looked at each other blankly.

"THAT LAST ONE WASN'T ME! … But yeah I did the first two." Talonflame confessed.

"What is wrong with you?!" Greninja shouted. "You're just as bad as Cardin!"

"… Who?"

"That guy who was just up here. The one who was picking on Jaune. The one who still hasn't worn a combat skirt!" Greninja explained.

Talonflame suddenly remembered. "Wait, wait, wait- him. You actually remembered that jerks name."

"Well that's calling the kettle black!"

"What are you blathering on about?!"

"Oh, you didn't understand then let me be clear." Greninja cleared his throat. "WHY- ARE- YOU-BEING- A- BULLY- YOU- JERK!" Greninja panted in place and Talonflame looked unfazed.

"Enjoy your temper tantrum you big baby?"

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" Greninja shot back quickly. "This isn't like you, and if it were up to me I would just Water Shuriken you and that's it. But…"

"But?"

"… Kai's started to notice. He sent me out to make sure you weren't doing anything but now his worst fears are confirmed." Greninja explained sadly. Talonflame looked down and then back at Greninja.

"Jaune cheated his way into Beacon."

"… What?"

"He got some false information and lied his way in. No training! No tests! He just skipped any hard work and you expect me to feel bad for him! To let him slide by! We're here without a choice and we've already done more work than that weakling! He needs to learn the hard way to stand up for himself!"

Greninja looked down in thought and then his eyes lit up. "You're trying to help him, aren't you?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"No, no you are, don't deny it!" Greninja interrupted. "You're trying to make him stand up for himself so that he can stand up to Cardin."

"That is the most idiotic thing that I have ever heard you say! And that's saying something!"

"Look you can't lie to me, I know you too well. But you can't force him into this, he needs to learn on his own."

"He doesn't have time. He needs to stand up now, or his weakness will start to hurt others."

"What do you mean by that?"

Talonflame looked at Greninja seriously. "How long were you here for?"

"As long as you. Bet you never even knew I was here, did you?"

"And how much did you hear? With Jaune and that other guy."

"The whole thing. Why?"

Talonflame didn't say anything and let Greninja figure it out. "Cardin knows and he's blackmailing him… Great! Turns out he has another terrible layer after the racism! And he just asked him to rob Weiss."

"Exactly. And while I'm not a fan of her or Jaune, it's only a matter of time until that jerk wants him to do something to Kai." Talonflame summarised.

"So, what do we do?"

"You do nothing. I'll continue beating my point in until he finally stops being a weak hypocrite and finds his inner strength."

"Kai won't like that."

"So, don't tell him, it's that simple." Greninja looked unsure. "Trust me Greninja I'll come back with you now, and if after enough time he's still acting stubborn we'll try something else."

"… I'm still not happy about this."

"Well that just makes my plan even better." Greninja sighed as Talonflame flew off to Kai's dorm.

 _'_ _Why am I letting you get away with this?'_ Greninja thought.

* * *

Inside of team JNPR's dorm Pyrrha was looking out of the window aimlessly. Nora was jumping on her bed and Ren was polishing his weapon.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora asked during her bounces.

"He's become rather scarce ever since he's been fraternising with Cardin." Ren answered.

"That's weird. Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest!"

"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." Pyrrha stated aggressively.

"Hmm… I guess so." Nora said disappointed.

Jaune was looking in the whole time from outside his door and closed it looking down.

"Hey Jaune."

"Guh!" Jaune turned around in surprise to see Ruby standing there in her pyjamas.

Ruby's pajamas consisted of a black tank top featuring a heart-shaped Beowolf design on the chest and long white pants decorated with pink roses. On her head was a black sleeping mask decorated with triangular red eyes.

"Long time no see." She greeted cheerfully. "Did you lock yourself out again?"

"OH uh, nope." He answered awkwardly before pulling out his scroll. "Heh, got it!"

"So where have you been lately."

"I uh…" Jaune sighed. "I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have and now Cardin's got me on a leash and Pyrrha won't even talk to me…" Jaune sighed again. "I'm starting to think coming to this school is a bad idea." Jaune lay against his door and slid to the floor. "I'm a failure."

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"Nope. You're a leader now Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."

"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?"

"Mmm… Nope."

Jaune gave a small laugh. "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

Ruby sat down next to Jaune. "Nope!" Jaune thunked his head against the door. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid," Jaune sighed. "And you might have been a failure the first day we met," Jaune sighed even harder. "But you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Uhhh, because-"

"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do. And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second." Ruby got up. "Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you."

"She's right you know."

Jaune and Ruby looked across the hallway to see Kai also in his pyjamas. He was wearing a black cotton T-Shirt with a Snorlax's head on the front and a Poké ball on the back. He also wore long blue and white pants in a checkered pattern, and he wore matching male and female Meowstic slippers.

"K- Kai. What are you doing up?" Jaune asked surprised.

"Long story short, when I let one of my Pokémon out it makes sleeping difficult so I need my room to air out." Kai explained. "But on the subject of leaders… I can relate."

"But you don't have a team."

"Nope I do."

"Can people just stop saying that word."

"Nope." Ruby replied and Jaune sighed.

"But back on topic. I have six team members, and each one I have to look after. I need to feed them, train them, care for them, clean up after them. It's not easy, and honestly for a while I wanted nothing to do with it." Kai explained.

"You didn't, but they're so cool." Ruby awed.

"Well I guess you could say I was in a phase at the time. But now… I wouldn't give them up for the world, even when they make me worry so I have to send one of them out to fetch another one, only to not come back. For over two hours."

Jaune looked away. "Oh, sorry."

Kai smiled. "Don't be its part of the job. Maybe that's what you need right now; to stop worrying about yourself and start worrying about your team- wait that might have come out wrong!"

"No, you're right Kai. And… Sorry about before-"

"Water under the bridge." Kai interrupted and the three of them smiled.

"Come on guys!" Ruby said with open arms. "Who wants a leader group hug."

"NOPE!" Kai lurched back surprising Ruby and Jaune.

"Yeah, Kai doesn't really do hugs." The three leaders turned around to see Greninja and Talonflame on the other side of the hall walking/flying over. "Honestly don't know why."

"I just don't like the feeling of getting uncomfortably close to each other." Kai defended. "Anyway, where have you two been? Especially you Talonflame! I've been worried sick, Greninja what's he been doing?"

Greninja looked at Talonflame who bowed his head, then at Jaune who looked a little freaked out seeing Talonflame, and then finally back to Kai. "I mean… Where do I start?" Talonflame sighed and Kai looked concerned. "I mean I guess his existence is a good place, but then there's the fact that all he does is fly. Seriously what is so interesting about flapping your wings?" Talonflame perked up and Kai felt relieved.

"Ha! You're just jealous you can't fly!" Talonflame taunted.

"Two words. Stealth. Rocks."

"That's a low blow and you know it!"

"All right guys settle down, we don't want to wake the entire school up." Kai intervened.

"Actually, while I was out I actually saw Jaune."

"Wait you saw Jaune?" Ruby asked. "What happened?"

"Why don't I let him explain." Talonflame gestured Jaune to speak.

"I… Uh… I must not have seen you- sorry." Jaune explained, Talonflame sighed before flying off to Kai's dorm.

"I'll follow him." Greninja stated unemotionally.

"Are you two okay? You both seem… Down?" Kai asked concerned.

"Any day where Talonflame is even a bit right is a bad day."

Kai was left to wonder what Greninja meant but shrugged it off and started following them. "Whatever, I'll see you tomorrow guys."

"Have a good night Jaune. You too Kai." Ruby said entering her room and closing the door. Jaune was left alone in the hall and stood up. He went to go into his dorm when his scroll started ringing, he opened it and answered a call from Cardin.

"Hey! It's your buddy Cardin. I know you're probably busy with that dust project I gave you, buuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of rapier wasps."

"Gah!"

"And make sure they've got some reaaally big stingers. It's important, so don't screw this up!"

Jaune closed his scroll and it started ringing again as he walked away groaning. Talonflame watched him from down the hall and stared at him disapprovingly.

* * *

 **The next day…**

 **-Afternoon, Forever Fall-**

The Forever Fall was true to its name. It was a forest where all of the trees had red leaves giving the illusion that it was autumn no matter what season it actually was. Red leaves continuously fell making the ground full of red leaves adding to the illusion. The class all looked around in awe at the scenery around them.

 _'_ _Now this is a place I can get behind.'_ Kai thought. _'I think the Johto region is similar to this in some regards.'_

"Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peaches asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside the forest. And I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so."

 _'_ _Oh yes, how could I forget Remnants dangerous environment and Beacon's questionable teaching methods, how stupid of me.'_

Jaune was carrying all of the supplies and grunted before bumping into Cardin. "Uh, heh!" Jaune then whistled awkwardly and nervously laughed.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap." Goodwitch pulled out a full jar as an example. "However, this forest is still filled with the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous here back at four o'clock. Have fun!"

Jaune lifted the supplies up causing the jars to clink and started walking away.

"C'mon buddy! Let's go." Cardin stopped Jaune and he stared as his teammates went ahead as he went away. Pyrrha sighed at Jaune before following her two teammates.

Kai meanwhile was in an open clearing scouring to make sure that he was alone.

 _'_ _All right, coasts clear, time to give the good news.'_

Kai grabbed all the Poké balls on his belt and threw them into the air opening them, letting all of his team out.

"Wow the leaves here… They're beautiful." A child-like voice commented.

"Ah, there is a sweet parfume in these trees." A slightly high-pitched and squeaky voice complimented.

"Fresh air, sweet sap, freedom… What's the catch?" Greninja asked.

"No catch." Kai started to explain. "I know that adjusting to this world hasn't been easy, even more so having to go against the Grimm, or criminals, or Huntsman in training, or having to keep you in your Poké balls all day and I'm sorry. So as a reward for your good behaviour I'm letting you out for the day!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" The child-like voice asked concerned. "I don't want you to get in trouble because of us."

"I'm sure it is quite alright." A rough and deep voice re-assured. "As long as we stay out of danger and away from everyone else, then this may be an enjoyable experience."

"Hmph! Speak for yourself, that woman said there were Grimm in these woods and I'm itching for a battle!" Talonflame declared.

"Don't be so foolish Talonflame. What would happen if you were caught or injured, Sire would surely be made to face atonement." Aegislash warned.

"Yeah Talonflame, try not to light the whole forest on fire." Greninja berated.

"Sure, just be careful around here Greninja. We wouldn't want a leaf stroking against you and knocking you out!" Talonflame mocked.

"Silence you two!" The rough and deep voice commanded. "Our Master has given us a reward. I do not want the two of you two waste such a rare gift because of your pointless bickering."

"HE STARTED IT!" The two of them shouted in unison.

"Foolish, fools." Aegislash commented.

"All right settle down. We meet back here at four o'clock got it!" Kai repeated.

"YEEESSS!" The six of them agreed.

"Kai are you alright? What was that sound?" Someone asked through the trees.

"That's my cue gotta go. And remember four o'clock." Kai whispered and ran through the trees leaving his Pokémon alone.

"To the sweet parfume!" The squeaky high-pitched voice declared before heading into the trees. "Parfuuuuuuu-" It's voice cried before fading.

"Well I'm gonna go take lap." Talonflame stated.

"That would not be wise here." The deep rough voice suggested. "Our location is currently protected by the trees. Heading into the sky will increase the likelihood of you and by extension us getting caught."

"Yeah, yeah I'll be careful." Talonflame groaned and started to take off.

"See that you are." The voice told him as he flew into the sky.

"Sooo…" The child-like voice exaggerated. "Did anyone bring the cards?"

Greninja shook his head tutting, before pulling out a pack of playing cards. "Dibs being the dealer."

* * *

The rest of the class barring team CRDL and Jaune were busy collecting sap. Or trying in some peoples' cases.

"Okay seriously, why am I getting ripped off by a tree." Kai cried out upset. "I know you've got some sweet, sweet sap in there so hand it over or some help me I will bust out HM01!"

"Kai, I think that one is dried out." Pyrrha explained. "Why not try that one over there."

Kai was hesitant but stepped away from his tree and went to the one Pyrrha pointed out. When he tried getting sap this time he was successful.

"… You got lucky this time tree."

"So, Kai I've been thinking about asking you something for a while now." Pyrrha started to say.

"Look you don't need to think about asking me things. I'm not exactly your conventional Huntsman in training so it's normal that you have questions. If you have them then just ask." Kai explained.

"In that case, I wanted to know… Where are you from?" Kai jerked suddenly and dropped his jar landing with a soft thud. "Sorry!"

"It's fine, it's fine. It didn't smash and I dropped it anyway not you." Kai reassured.

 _'_ _Great she had to ask that question, the one I don't have a proper answer to. Well it was bound to come up eventually and you have had a few weeks- that's beside the point me! I should have thought of one! Woah, woah easy there me. It isn't exactly an easy question to make up an answer for. Yeah, I guess your right me, sorry for-'_

"Kai- Kai!" Pyrrha got his attention breaking his train of thought.

"Ah! Huh? Sorry I zoned out for-"

"Are you two alright?" Yang asked as she as well as the remaining members of team RWBY and JNPR joined them.

"We're fine. Kai was just about to explain where he comes from."

"Finally, I have wondered where you found your Pokémon." Weiss said.

"Maybe your kingdom will explain why nobody's heard of your Pokémon before." Blake suggested.

"Really… I- I never thought of it that way before… And I- err…" Kai nervously laughed and everyone stepped closer to him.

 _'_ _DON'T JUST STAND THERE! If you don't say anything they'll get suspicious!'_

"Well… I've been on the road."

"Yeah. And you said that already." Nora interrupted impatiently.

"Yes… Yes, I did and… I've travelled a lot so- so- so- I've… Never really had a home." Kai managed to sputter out and everyone else remained silent.

 _'_ _Oh no, did I say something bad?!'_

"You've never had a home." Ruby repeated sympathetically.

"Well… I suppose it's more accurate to say I haven't had a home for the last three years."

"Why? Were you kicked out?" Nora bluntly guessed.

"Nora!" Ren judged.

"Well sort of. When you become a Pokémon trainer you leave home to go on your journey."

"A journey?" Blake asked.

"Well I say journey, but there isn't really a goal or destination. It's mainly just travelling, exploring the world, living. I do visit my old town sometimes if I'm nearby but mainly I just live wherever I fall asleep."

"But you must have some support, right? You can't just live in the unknown world." Weiss asked.

"Not really. In the off chance you do find a Pokémon town you can get supplies, but mostly you're on your own."

"It sounds lonely." Pyrrha stated. "Sorry! I didn't mean to make it sound like that!"

"No, it's fine. I never really got on with people anyway, besides I've always got my family by my side- literally."

"Do you miss it?" Ruby asked.

"Well it's not that I don't like this place but… Yeah I really do."

"Well we're off for two weeks at the end of the semester, so maybe you can visit home then."

"Yeah… Yeah, I'd like that." Kai said quietly grabbing his jar and finished filling it. He noticed that everyone had gone quiet and turned to see them looking at him. "Why are you staring at me like that? I'm fine really, I've got a jar full of sap what else do I need?"

"Kai, if you're ever feeling lonely or homesick… We'll be here for you." Ruby said. Kai blinked twice and smiled.

"Thank you for saying that. Honestly, I already feel a little better talking about it, so thanks."

* * *

Team CRDL meanwhile were sitting down and relaxing in a different clearing in the forest. Jaune walked up to them carrying seven full jars of sap before collapsing from exhaustion.

"Hey. Great work, Jauney boy. Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin sarcastically applauded.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff…" Jaune replied with a stuffy voice.

"Great, great, great. So Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, 'why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect seven jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'"

"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes." Jaune answered as he sat up.

"Well, come with me and you'll find out."

"Oh…" Jaune gulped. He was pulled up by Cardin and started to walk when Cardin stopped him.

"Hey, hey, hey. Hold your horses there pal. You still need to carry the jars."

Jaune groaned and picked up each of the jars before Cardin shoved him along with the rest of his team to somewhere else. A familiar bird watching them all the way.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Talonflame commented as he flew over them, making sure he wasn't seen by anyone.

They all stopped when they got to a high ledge and they lay down to prevent themselves from being seen. Talonflame watched from above with a grunt. Jaune crawled up to the front to see everyone still around Kai, enjoying each other's company and talking. Ren was filling up jars, when he handed a full jar to Nora in exchange for an empty one.

"Mmm~" Nora murmured before a slurping sound was heard. This sound interrupted Ren from his sap collecting and he turned around to see that Nora had eaten (or drank?) all of the sap leaving a sticky mark around her lips.

"Cardin, what's going on?" Jaune asked.

"Payback." Cardin answered causing Talonflame to growl and bare his talons. Jaune looked nervously at Cardin's line of sight.

"Pyrrha?... Kai?" Jaune saw the two of them chatting and smiling in the distance. "What are you-"

"That's them." Cardin interrupted. "The red-haired know-it-all who thinks she's so smart. And that freak wielding wimp who keeps getting in my face." Cardin then pulled a cardboard box from behind him with a 'W' on the front… Which was buzzing. "Alright, boys. Last night ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of rapier wasps. And now we're gonna put em' to work." Russel shook Jaune making him laugh nervously. "Now, according to one of the essays he wrote for me last week, these nasty things looove sweets. I'm thinkin' it's time we teach them a thing or two." Cardin and his team got up and he pulled Jaune to his feet. "And you're gonna do it." He demanded shoving two jars into Jaune's hands.

"Do what?"

"Hit them with the sap! Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon."

Jaune looked down at the jars in his hands while Talonflame started flying higher into the air.

 _'_ _I won't let this happen.'_ He thought. _'Forget about getting stronger! Forget about not getting caught! If Jaune and those jerks think they can harm Kai, then they've got another thing coming!'_

Jaune looked back up at Cardin and his team before turning around getting ready to throw the jars. Jaune looked at Kai and Pyrrha, they were completely unaware right now. This was his best chance, he might not even get caught but his arms trembled. Talonflame had reached the right altitude and flew down in a blue aura.

 _'_ _ **Fly!**_ _'_

Jaune saw Kai and Pyrrha's faces turn slightly towards him and he saw them laughing with each other as he was about to throw the jars. Talonflame burst through the clouds and was ready to strike Jaune down talons first.

 _'_ _I won't let you weaklings get away with-'_

"No." Jaune stated. Talonflame's eyes widened and he stopped his attack in mid-air making a slight wind breeze flow down.

"What did you say?" Cardin asked annoyed.

"I said… NO!" Jaune threw one of the jars at Cardin making it smash and covering his damaged armour plate in sap.

 _'_ _YEEESSS! GET RIGHT IN THERE JAUNE!'_ Talonflame thought proudly, it was hard to tell but he was smiling through his beak.

"Oh- ho- ho, you've done it now." Cardin stated.

Jaune nervously laughed and dropped the other jar as team CRDL carried him away into the forest.

 _'_ _Come on Jaune, fight back.'_ Talonflame thought as he saw Jaune get carried away. _'I can't help him, at least not yet, but if something bad happens then someone needs to get Kai.'_ Talonflame picked up the dropped jar and started flying after the team when his beak twitched. _'That sweet smell- wait!'_ Talonflame's beak continued twitching before he flew into a thick part of the forest. _'I know that smell.'_ Talonflame quickly flew through the thicket when he arrived in another clearing to see a familiar face.

In the clearing was an over two-foot-tall bipedal dessert. It had pink fluffy hair like cream or cotton candy with a red sphere above it that looked like a cherry on top. Its body was white and spongey like a marshmallow except for its pink feet, and it had a red collar with a red spot underneath making it look like it was dressed with strawberry sauce. It had red eye lenses with white iris' similar to Greninja as well as a stubby red nose and a long tongue that was continuously sticking out of its mouth (though not nearly as long as Greninja's). It had also slurped dry many of the trees around it of their sap.

"SLURPUFF!" Talonflame shouted.

The meringue Pokémon turned towards its brother and gave its signature goofy smile.

"Ah, Talonflame parfume." She greeted with her slightly high-pitched and squeaky voice. "I smelled your stressful parfume from here. Come rest your parfume and enjoy the sweet parfume of the-"

"Will you shut up about parfume for just a moment! I need your help!"

"Do not insult the parfume for your stress! But it is rare for your parfume to ask for assistance. Tell me, what has troubled your parfume?"

"Look, you know that jerk Kai and Greninja fought a while ago. Well he just took one of Kai's friends away."

"And since when did you need my parfume to stop someone?"

"I don't! … But I can't help this time. Jaune has to deal with this himself." Talonflame confessed as Slurpuff stood with the same goofy look on her face.

"Ah, this Jaune parfume you speak of. You care for his parfume no?"

"OF COURSE NOT! I've just been trying to beat into his head that he needs to stand up for himself and now he might actually do it! But if something goes wrong-"

"Then you want my parfume to bring help." Slurpuff figured out. Talonflame looked down and handed her the jar of sap.

"I was hoping to toss this on that jerk to really throw salt into the wound. But Jaune's had his fingerprints and probably sweat on this for so long that you can use it to track him after you get Kai."

"Do not worry for I will find Kai parfume in no time." Slurpuff then sniffed the air and ran off into the trees. "PAAARRFUUUUUUUME!"

Talonflame, started flying back up into the air and started looking for Jaune.

 _"_ _You care for his parfume no?"_ Slurpuff's words echoed through Talonflame's head.

 _"_ _You're trying to help him, aren't you?"_ Greninja's words followed.

 _'_ _Pathetic, he's so pathetic… Just like I was…'_

* * *

 **So a lot happened this chapter didn't it? Jaune's character developing like in the show, Kai starting to relax around more of the RWBY cast, the hinting at and actual reveal of another one of Kai's team, and most notably for me... Talonflame.**

 **Not only is Kai in the spotlight here, his team are as well and Talonflame just so happened to be the first to get some development, the next chapter in particular I hope will make you like him after what I've got planned.** **That said, I'll see you guys next time to finish up the Forever Fall rewrite.**

 **Until then this is Kallerston signing out!**


	10. Chapter 9: Strength

**All right folks time to finish up the Jaundice/Forever Fall duology/quadology? You know what I mean. But first the questions:**

 **Stormquake the Elementalist: I can see where you're coming from. However when you look at the Pokedex entries you'll notice that while Aromatisse is about making fragrances, Slurpuff's are all about its sense of smell. That's why I thought it made sense to give her the personality I did.**

 **Jyoster: Pancakes, waffles, coffee (Arceus forbid), parfumes... Let's just call them buds to shorten the title.**

* * *

 **Several years ago…**

 **-Morning, Santalune Forest-**

 _Bright light seeped through cracks in the forests canopy, reflecting of the leaves wet dew drops. One of these drops dripped of its leaf and fell with plop on a sleeping birds head._

 _"_ _Fletch! Fletchling! Fletchling! (Ah! I hate that! Stupid rain drops!)" The bird cried out as it was forcibly woken up._

 _The bird was small and looked most similar to a robin. It had a reddish-orange head, a grey body, and a black tail with a 'V-shaped' white mark. Its legs were thin and spindly, it's beak and eye lenses were black with white irises and the edges of it's wings were also white._

 _"_ _Fletchling! Fletchling! (Someday beautiful!)" The Fletchling sang looking up at the white cracks in the sky, this particular Fletchling spent many hours a day staring upwards, dreaming of flying away to freedom. A small bolt of lightning struck the Fletchling from below and it screamed before falling to the ground slightly charred._

 _"_ _Pika, Pikachu. (Oh, look whose finally awake.)" The voice belonged to a well-known Pokémon. This Pokémon was yellow and had a tail in the shape of a lightning bolt. Its eyes were black with white irises, its cheeks had red sacs and its ears were pointy and black at their tip._

 _"_ _Fle- Fletchling! (Pi- Pikachu!)" Fletchling shouted in a panic. "Fle- Fletchling- (I- I was just-)"_

 _"_ _Pika, Pika. Pikachu, Pika? (Good, good. You know what time it is, don't you?)"_

 _Fletchling sighed. "Fletchling Fletchling. (Berry collection.)"_

 _"_ _Pika! Pikachu! Pikachu, Pikachu. (Good! I knew you weren't useless! Now get me breakfast, unless you want another shock.)" Fletchling started flying into the trees to grab berries when it was shocked again. "Pika! Pika, Pikachu! (Faster! Come on, I'm starving!)_

 _Fletchling whimpered as it sped up and went into the trees finding any available berries growing. It was a regular routine for Fletchling, for as long as he could remember this Pikachu had been bullying it. Hitting it with super-effective Thundershocks unless it did his bidding, mainly grabbing berries for it. Sometimes this was manageable, but in low harvests in Winter, it was a nightmare._

 _"_ _Fletchling! Fletchling! Fletchling! (Someday! Someday! Someday!)" Fletchling chanted to itself._

 _Several images went by of Fletchling grabbing berries, giving them to Pikachu, going to sleep exhausted, waking up, being forced to work again and getting hit by Thundershock… And the images kept repeating. Spring, summer, autumn, winter, night or day, rain or shine; Pikachu's will was Fletchling's life._

 _Until one day during a particularly low harvest…_

 _"_ _Pi Pika Pi? (Is that it?)" Pikachu said unamused looking at the small pile of Oran berries._

 _"_ _Fl- Fl- Fletch Fletchling. (I- I- I'm sorry.)" Fletchling sputtered nervously. "Fletchling Fletchling Fletchling. (There isn't a lot of berries right now.") Fletchling was hit with a powerful Thundershock. "_ _ **FLEEEETCHLIIIIIIINNG!"**_

 _"_ _Pikachu! (I don't care!)" Pikachu shocked Fletchling again knocking it flat._

 _"_ _Fle- Fle-_ _ **FLEEETCHLIIIIIIIING!**_ _" Pikachu shocked Fletchling again._

 _"_ _Pikachu Pika Pika Pikachu! (You go out there and you better get me some berries or else!)"_

 _Fletchling slowly got itself up and tried to fly but didn't have the strength to get up._

 _"_ _Pikachu Pi Pi Pika Pikachu. Pikachu. (Sleeping on the job I see. Fine then.) Pikachu started charging electricity in it's cheeks and Fletchling's vision started to blur._

 _"_ _Fletch! Fletchling! (Please! Stop it!)"_

 _"_ _Pikachu! (Make me!) Pikachu shouted as it shocked Fletchling again making it scream._

 _"_ _Fle… Fle… Fletchling… (I… I… Want to be free…)"_

 _"_ _Pi? Pikachu? (Hm? What was that?)"_

 _"_ _Fle… Fletchling. (I… Want to be free.) Fletchling managed to say._

 _Pikachu laughed callously, making Fletchling start to cry._

 _"_ _Pikachu? Pikachu Pikachu. (How pathetic are you? A weakling like yourself will never be free, only the strong like me can be free.)" Pikachu continued to laugh as Fletchling looked up at the cracks of light in the sky crying as his dream had essentially just been spit on, then back at Pikachu laughing. And he felt a burning fire getting lit in his belly, as all of the rage he ever pent up flowed around him at once._

 _"_ _Fle. Fletch… (I. Want…)" Fletchling started to say as Pikachu stopped laughing and looked at him. "…_ _ **FLETCHLING!**_ _(…_ _ **TO BE FREE!**_ _) Fletchling charged at Pikachu at full speed and delivered a powerful Tackle making Pikachu open his mouth wide._

 _"_ _Pi… Pi Pikachu Pi! (That… That actually hurt!) Pikachu yelled surprised. "Pikachu-_ _ **Pika Pi!**_ _(Go down-_ _ **Thundershock!**_ _)"_

 _The Thundershock hit but Fletchling didn't scream, he tensed up and took the hit before hitting Pikachu with another Tackle bashing him against nearby stones._

 _"_ _Pi… Pikachu Pika? (Where… Where did this strength come from?)"_

 _"_ _Fletchling Fletch… Fletch Fletchling… Fletchling Fletchling… Fletchling… Fletch… Fletchling… Fletchling… (I'm not weak… I'm not pathetic… I've spent my life serving you… Feeding you… So, tell me… Between the one who does all the work… And the one who does nothing…)"_

 _"_ _Pikachu!_ _ **Pikachu!**_ _(Stop talking!_ _ **Tail Whip!**_ _)" Pikachu tried lowering Fletchling's defence but it was completely nullified by his ability Big Pecks._

 _"_ _ **FLETCH FLETCHLING! FLETCHLING!**_ _(_ _ **WHICH ONE OF US SEEMS WEAK NOW! TACKLE!**_ _)" Fletchling tackled into Pikachu one more time dealing a Critical Hit and pushing him further into the rocks making a crack form._

 _"_ _ **PIIIIIKAAAAAA!**_ _" Pikachu screamed as it was wedged between the attack and the rock. He slumped to the ground with swirling eyes, a sign that he had been knocked out._

 _Fletchling stood over Pikachu's defeated body and spat on him. "Fletchling. (Pathetic.)" Fletchling struggled to stand but in the corner of his eye noticed the pile of Oran berries. He hopped to them and ate them up quickly rejuvenating some of his strength. As he finished a light shone on him and he looked towards it to see a bright white light at the end of a long tunnel. Fletchling was curious and started flying towards it cautiously waiting for something to stop him… But nothing did._

 _He went through the white light and exited the forest. In front of him was a straight-forward route that had a dirt path and three patches of tall grass. In the distance was a world Fletchling never knew existed, a town. And far away he could see a blue light with a white symbol he didn't recognise. But the thing that fascinated him the most was that for the first time in his life, Fletchling could finally see the brilliant, bright, clear blue sky. It filled his beady black eyes and filled him with awe as he took his first deep breath of air._

 _"_ _Fletchling. (I'm free.)" Fletchling said faintly as he began to cry tears of happiness. "Fletch Fletchling. (I'm finally free.)_

* * *

Back in the present Talonflame was flying high over the Forever Fall tree line. It made him easier to spot but he didn't care, he had to find Jaune.

"Come on Jaune where are you?" Talonflame asked himself.

* * *

Jaune meanwhile was dropped on the ground somewhere in the forest as Cardin walked up to him with his teammates surrounding them both. He picked Jaune up in one hand and punched him back down to the ground with the other.

"GAH!" Jaune grunted.

"You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney boy." Cardin stated. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny, tiny, pieces." Cardin grabbed Jaune again with both of his hands, Jaune already had a purple bruise form on his cheek.

"I don't care what you do to me. But you are not messing with my team or my friends." Jaune said in defiance.

"What, you think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?"

Jaune's feet were dangling but he still found the strength to shrug his shoulders.

"Hrahh!" Cardin pulled back a fist and punched Jaune in the face when Jaune's aura activated protecting him. "Agh!" Cardin cried dropping Jaune as he held his hand in pain.

"Huh?" Jaune heard a high-pitched ringing and he looked down at his hands to see a brief glimpse of his aura. Sky kicked Jaune's back knocking him down on his front.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are."

A loud roaring was heard behind them as an Ursa Major jumped out of the woods followed by three Ursa Minors making the huntsman in training take a step back cautiously. The Ursa sniffed the air, smelling the sap (or maybe the immense fear) coming from Cardin making him the prime target.

"That's a big Ursa!" Russel shouted as he Dove and Sky abandoned Cardin before the three were followed by the Ursa Minors. Cardin was swatted by the Ursas paw leaving Jaune to raise his arms to defend itself. But the Ursa crawled away to corner Cardin, Cardin pulled out his mace… Only for him to remember that Greninja had cut the top of it off leaving him defenceless as he and Jaune braced themselves for what was gonna happen next.

" **Fly!** " Talonflame dived out of the sky knocking the Ursa off of Cardin before flying back with a pained expression "Ugh, I hate those spines."

"Wait?! You're-?!" Jaune shouted surprised.

"You! Get… What's his name and go I can handle this!"

"No!"

Talonflame looked at Jaune. "What did you just say?!"

"I said no! Kai told me about how that move you just used, Fly. You can use that to carry people to somewhere you've already been." Jaune explained.

"Yeah, one person! If I save you, he'll be left defenceless! As inviting as that sounds, we can't just leave him!"

"I'm not asking you to take me!"

Talonflame looked at Jaune seriously. "I'm not leaving you alone with that thing!"

"Cardin is defenceless! He's attracting that thing! He's in danger and you can save him, then get back here with help faster than I can!"

"And what if I'm too late?!"

"Let me deal with this!"

"And what if you're not ready?!"

"You not what I'm probably not!" Jaune shouted. "But right now, I don't care, I'm expendable and no matter what I'm staying. So, you can save someone who matters, you can save the damsel or you risk your own life. This is the best option."

"But you-"

"Just trust me!"

The Ursa roared as it started getting closer to Cardin as he whimpered. Jaune pulled out his weapon and looked away from Talonflame.

"Look I did some things…" Talonflame started to apologise.

"Save the apologies until later, after this is over."

"Yeah… That sounds good."

Jaune charged at the Ursa and swatted its head away with his sword getting its attention. Cardin disappeared in a dark blue blur as Talonflame used Fly to carry Cardin into the air.

"AAAAHHH!" Cardin screamed.

Jaune gulped and turned to the Ursa Major who had its attention now squarely on Jaune.

 _'_ _I'm starting to think that this was a bad idea.'_ He thought.

* * *

A distant roaring was heard back where everyone else was collecting sap and they turned towards it.

"Did you guys here that?" Ruby asked.

"Do you think it's a Grimm?" Kai asked.

Russel, Dove and Sky immediately ran through the area.

"Ursa! Ursa!" Russel shouted when he ran into Yang.

"What? Where?" Yang asked frantically lifting Russel up.

"Back-" Russel was interrupted when the three Ursa Minor charged into the clearing after them.

"There." Yang finished dropping Russel who ran off.

"Get ready!" Pyrrha shouted as everyone drew their weapons. "Here they-"

A bright pink light engulfed the area and everyone covered their eyes.

"That light it- it doesn't sting my eyes." Ruby said confused.

"Wait! I know that light!" Kai stated.

The pink light disappeared and everyone uncovered their eyes to see all three Grimm had disappeared.

"What was that?!" Yang asked.

"Parfume- parfume- parfume- parfume- parfume- parfume- parfume- parfume- parfume-"

An intense muttering from a silly voice caught the students' attention as Slurpuff power waddled with her nose to the ground.

"What is that?!" Weiss shouted.

"Slurpuff?!" Kai shouted in response.

"Slur- what?!"

On hearing her name Slurpuff looked up and spotted Kai along with every other student looking at her bizarrely.

"Parfume!" Slurpuff declared not noticing their faces and waddled quickly to Kai. "Kai parfume, I have important parfume to share."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a second!" Weiss interrupted. "THAT'S a Pokémon."

"Yes." Kai bluntly answered.

"But it's just so… I don't even… How… What even is that?!"

"She, is a Slurpuff."

"SHE?!"

"Come on Weiss, she looks like a walking cake!" Ruby complimented.

Slurpuff waddled up to Ruby and started sniffing her. "Ah Rose parfume, it is sweet to savour your parfume up close." She greeted.

"Thanks… What's a parfume?"

"It's just a fancy word for smell." Kai explained. "But for some reason Slurpuff seems to always say it even when she's not talking about smell, or even as a prefix. In fact, aside from me and my other Pokémon she only refers to other people by their _parfume_. I guess you must smell of roses."

"GAH! This is no time to admire parfume! Talonflame parfume has given me a warning parfume to share." Slurpuff shouted panicked.

"A warning, what is it?"

"Talonflame parfume has warned that Lavender parfume has been taken deep into the syrup parfume forest."

"… Um translation." Yang suggested.

"Talonflame warned Slurpuff that someone who smells like lavender has been taken into the forest."

"Someone's been taken!"

"But who?" Blake asked.

"Wait, I haven't seen Jaune since he got here. Is it him?" Pyrrha asked dropping her jar.

Slurpuff nodded and pulled out the syrup jar. "My parfume remembers now. Jaune parfume was the name of the parfume that Talonflame parfume said grabbed Lavender parfume's jar."

"And given how him and his team aren't here that means the one who took him was Cardin! And we just let his teammates escape." Kai groaned.

"Weren't they running from Ursai?!" Ren asked when a loud roar cut him off.

"Oh no." Kai said.

"We need to find Jaune!" Pyrrha decided.

"But we don't know where he is!" Blake interrupted. "The only people that might know are Cardin's teammates and they just ran off!"

"Then we need to try something-"

"AAAAAAHH!" A whoosh of wind came from behind them and they turned to see Cardin dazed and trembling.

"Is that Cardin?" Pyrrha asked in surprise.

Kai stepped forward. "Why I ought a-"

Talonflame attacked Cardin with Fly knocking him flat on his back before Talonflame stood on his chest, lifted his head to stare into his eyes and then combusted into flames.

"Woah!" Kai shouted

"Parfuuume." Slurpuff awed.

"LET ME TELL YA SOMETHING YOU: ABUSIVE- RACIST- BLACKMAILING- BULLY- THAT CAN HARDLY BE CALLED A HUMAN BEING ANYMORE! YOU HAVE BROUGHT BACK SOME VERY PAINFUL MEMORIES, AND MADE ME FEEL SOME VERY STRONG EMOTIONS FOR QUITE SOME TIME AND I AM SICK OF IT! SO, UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE A MELTED PILE OF YOUR OWN BODY MASS, LISTEN UP!" Talonflame demanded. "YOU ARE GOING TO STOP BULLYING ANYONE EVER AGAIN! THEN YOU ARE GOING TO PERSONALLY APOLOGISE TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON YOU HAVE BULLIED IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! **AND THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU, I WANT YOU TO BE WEARING A DRESS LIKE YOU PROMISED! DO I MAKE MYSLEF CLEAR?!** "

"Eeeeeeeee…" Was all that Cardin could muster. Talonflame uncloaked himself in fire raising a Steel Wing.

" **GOOD ENOUGH!** " Talonflame swatted Cardin with so much force that he hovered across the ground before crashing into a tree, making it shake, passing out and burying him in all the red leaves knocked off the tree. Talonflame inhaled and exhaled very loudly for a few moments, the ground underneath him was charred black and it was a miracle that he didn't set anything on fire (especially Cardin). Talonflame then turned around to see everyone else staring at him in fear.

"Do I even want to know what that was all about?" Kai asked slowly and cautiously.

"No… No, you don't…" Talonflame managed to say in-between gasps when a loud roaring was heard again.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha and Talonflame said in unison.

"Talonflame can you fly one of us back where you came from?" Kai asked urgently.

"Sorry, but these woods look the same. If it wasn't for Slurpuff's Dazzling Gleam then I probably wouldn't have made it here just now."

"We have to think of something!" Pyrrha shouted desperately.

Talonflame and Kai's heads suddenly perked up. "Slurpuff the jar!" They shouted simultaneously.

"For the parfume!" Slurpuff cried before she started vigorously sniffing the jar full of sap.

"What is she doing?" Weiss asked still not even close to understanding Slurpuff.

"Slurpuff's nose is one-million times better than any humans, it pretty much makes her the world's best sniffer dog. And once she gets Jaune's scent-"

"We can find him!" Pyrrha interrupted enthusiastically.

"Lavender parfume!" Slurpuff announced. "Parfume- parfume- parfume-" She began power waddling when Talonflame used Fly to lift her off the ground.

"We're taking the fast route, and we're not slowing down!" Talonflame shouted as he flew off in a certain direction.

"PARFUME!" Slurpuff cheered.

Ruby turned to face everyone. "Yang! You and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch."

"You two, go with them! There could be more." Pyrrha instructed to Ren and Nora.

As the 'BY' and 'NR' of RWBY and JNPR ran in one direction: Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha and Kai followed Talonflame and Slurpuff in hot pursuit.

* * *

Jaune was running away from the giant Grimm when it jumped over him and slashed at him with his claws knocking him back.

"GAH!" He shouted as he flew back. Jaune quickly got up and managed to block another one of his swings with his shield. As he did Talonflame flew overhead, spotting him.

"There he is! We've found him!" Talonflame declared, and everyone else soon arrived. Weiss and Ruby both got into poses ready to strike and Kai adjusted his hat.

"Alright when this attack hits, one of us gets him out, while everyone else takes on the big guy over there." Kai ordered and Ruby and Weiss both nodded. "Okay then, **Slurpuff use Dazzling-** "

"Wait!" Pyrrha interrupted.

"Why?" Weiss questioned. "If we wait only longer-"

"Trust her!" Talonflame encouraged. "Jaune's got this."

Jaune shoved the Ursas paw away and hit it in the chest with a downwards slash forcing it back. When it counterattacked Jaune rolled to avoid it before jumping to avoid a low sweep, before getting hit in the chest while in the air knocking him away. Jaune recovered and jumped at the Grimm slashing which it avoided, knocking Jaune in the back sending him flying again landing on his front. Jaune slowly got up and grunted before noticing his aura was low, however he still charged in giving a battle cry as he and the Ursa went to attack each other. Everyone held their breath and everything seemed to slow down, before the two could land a blow. Pyrrha thrust her hand forwards covered in a black aura, and Jaune's shield covered in that same aura moved above his head letting him block the Ursas attack. Time seemed to return to normal and Jaune got his footing allowing him to get in a good swing, decapitating the Grimm in a single strike.

"Heh, heh." Talonflame chuckled and flew down to meet Jaune not noticing Pyrrha lower her aura covered hand down.

"Uh, what." Ruby stated.

"How did you…" Weiss questioned.

"Was that your semblance?" Kai guessed.

"Actually, it is." Pyrrha started to explain. "Ruby has her speed, Weiss has her glyphs. My semblance is polarity."

"Ah, you can control poles." Ruby awed quietly.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mention that to Greninja." Kai warned.

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism." Weiss corrected.

"Magnets are cool too." Ruby corrected herself quietly as Pyrrha started to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened."

"We could. Or perhaps, we could just keep this little secret." Pyrrha suggested.

Pyrrha walked away with Ruby and Weiss following, while Kai stood and watched.

"Not bad, not bad." Talonflame said as he flew down surprising Jaune. "I did it better, but not bad."

"Yeah, I survived. But I guess that's not strong enough is it?" Jaune replied.

Talonflame sighed. "I'm sorry about bullying you." He apologised. "I know what it's like to be bullied. To have a dream that seems just out of reach, and I finally achieved that dream by standing up for myself, by fighting through the pain to beat the jerk who bullied me. But you're not like me, and I only made things worse for you and-"

"Water under the bridge." Jaune interrupted, and Talonflame smiled. "So, was this all the backup you got me?"

Talonflame looked confused and looked behind him to see Kai tip his hat at him before walking off.

"Yeah, well I could have handled this myself."

"That's not the parfume you told me." Slurpuff mocked. Talonflame stood up and Slurpuff fell off landing on the ground with a quiet thud and an oof. "By the way since you've solved your problems, don't expect any more handouts, you want to be independent; do it yourself."

"Thanks, but I still need to confront Cardin."

"I wouldn't worry about him anymore. But if you say anything to Greninja, so help me-!"

* * *

"Achoo!" Greninja suddenly sneezed.

"Are you quite alright Greninja?" Aegislash asked.

"You're not catching a cold, are you?" The child-like voice asked concerned.

"What no, no. It's probably dust or something." Greninja explained. "Or maybe someone's talking about me somewhere."

"That makes no sense." The deep rough voice critiqued.

"Well you're no fun. Now, where were we?" Greninja asked as he and his other teammates held a hand of cards in front of them.

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

 **-Night Time, Beacon Academy-**

Jaune was standing alone on the same roof where so much misfortune had happened to him recently. But this time was different, this time was peaceful and thoughtful.

"No Cardin tonight?" Pyrrha asked as she walked up to Jaune. "I thought you two were best buds?"

Jaune turned to face her. "Pyrrha, I'm sorry. I was a jerk. You were only trying to be nice and… I- I had to do all this stupid macho stuff in my head-"

"Jaune. It's okay." The two shared a smiled. "Your team really misses their leader, you know." Pyrrha started to walk away. "You should come down. Ren made pancakes~ No syrup though, you can thank Nora for that."

"Wait!" Jaune called out and Pyrrha stopped and turned around. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but… Would you still be willing to help me? To help me become a better fighter." Pyrrha turned fully around in place and smirked. She walked over to Jaune and shoved him onto his butt. "Hey!"

"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." Pyrrha offered Jaune her hand and she helped him get up. "Let's try that again."

* * *

"Tsk." Talonflame tutted flapping his wings in the air. "You ask to be independent and when you finally can, you immediately ask for help."

"Well that's calling the kettle black." Talonflame looked around him and spotted Greninja standing sideways on the building behind him.

"And why's that?"

"Because if that's the case then: every battle won, every move learnt, every experience point and evolution obtained since you were caught was because Kai helped you." Greninja explained and Talonflame scoffed.

"That's different."

"Sure, it is." The two stared at each other in a stalemate. "You sure, you're okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you almost burnt an entire forest and a person into ash during a fit of intense rage." Greninja stated bluntly and Talonflame looked at him. "Slurpuff told me."

"That tart." Talonflame grunted.

"Woah, woah easy there. That's your sister you're talking about." Greninja defended. "But she also said that some old memories came up… You've never talked about your past before."

"Neither have you."

"I was born in a lab, I had several brothers and occasionally a sister, and for several months after I was born I was put on display and rejected by everyone who saw me as they took one of my siblings. That's literally it."

"I'm still not saying anything, I'm over it."

"I'm not asking you to share anything, but if you ever feel like this again… I am your brother."

"As much as we both hate that fact." Talonflame joked.

"Ain't that the truth?" Greninja added and the two chuckled before going silent, Greninja took that as his cue to start leaving.

"…Freedom."

"Hmm?"

"Freedom. You want to know why I fly all the time, it's because when I'm up in the sky. I feel free."

"Huh… Neat."

"NEAT!" Talonflame shouted annoyed. "I open up to you for the first time in three years, and all you can say is neat!"

"Well what did you expect me to say? My Arceus! This is incredible! I have uncovered the secrets of the universe! My mind can hardly comprehend the sheer MAGNITUDE of the reason it is that you lift your wings up and down non-stop!" Greninja exaggerated.

"You know what?! FORGET IT! I'm never opening up to anyone ever again!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

The two brothers proceeded to head down the building, racing each other to get back to Kai's dorm first. And despite not knowing it, this was the first time that both Talonflame and Jaune had been freed from the shackles of their past.

* * *

 **So how was that? This chapter marks something that I plan to do for all off Kai's team; backstories. Their life before and when they get captured, what do you think? Talonflame's one wasn't even one I had planned, I was just writing this arc when it came to me, it also gave me a reason o explain why Talonflame acts the way he does, since I was getting concerned that I was making him unlikable, though that feelings passed now. Either way up next is 'The Stray' we're getting close to the end of my pre-written chapters and let me assure you, you don't want to miss the next few chapters of this.**

 **So until next time, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	11. Chapter 10: Lost and Found

**All right folks I won't keep you waiting long, just need to answer any questions**

 **Matt:** **I don't won't to spoil too much, so I'll just say one will be revealed very soon, but the other is still a bit away. I want to try and build these reveals up you know.**

* * *

 **-Afternoon, Beacon Academy-**

Kai was sitting in his room, watching TV and relaxing. It was Friday and Kai had just finished his last lesson giving him the whole weekend to sit back and relax, a routine he had done for some time now. It had been five weeks since Kai started Beacon and six since the semester began, marking the halfway point and everything had calmed down. News of the mysterious assaulter in Vale had died down, Kai was finally starting to improve and learn, nobody seemed to really care that they never knew Pokémon existed until several weeks ago, but unfortunately everything being calm meant that there was still no sign of a way back to Kalos… And everything was boring.

"We'll be right back after the break!" The TV echoed and Kai picked up the remote to turn it off sighing as he did.

"Fifty channels, and every single one is mostly adverts!" Kai complained. "This is why I travel, because without good TV-"

Kai's rant against commercials was interrupted by a knock on the door. Kai slowly got up out of his chair and walked towards it.

 _'_ _Who could that be?'_ Kai thought. _'Ruby said that her team was spending the afternoon in the city, and Jaune is making up for lost time with his team so who-'_ Kai opened the door revealing the knocker to be Professor Ozpin.

"Good afternoon Kai, may I come in?" He asked politely.

"Oh! Um, sure." Kai opened his door wide and slowly walked away, surprised at Ozpin's unannounced appearance.

"It's nice to see my gift has not gone to waste." Ozpin commented looking at Kai's desk which was covered in paper, books, and the lily that Weiss had gave him.

"Um yeah… Sorry for the mess I wasn't expecting company." Kai apologised awkwardly.

"It's no trouble, though I am surprised to not see any of your family in here."

"Well after Miss Goodwitch learned about me letting my team out during the field trip she told me I had to keep them in their balls outside of lesson at all times for three weeks as a punishment."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. But I do have some good news." Ozpin offered cheerfully.

"Oh?" Kai said interested. "Would you like to sit down?"

"No thank you, I won't be here long. I have just come to tell you that based on your minimal offences and recent improvement in lessons, I'm now allowing you to leave the school campus and explore the city." Ozpin explained.

"Really!" Kai said enthusiastically. "And that's okay?"

"Yes it is, in fact… I don't believe I ever said you couldn't leave."

"Well call it personal punishment then. Trying to avoid temptation and all that."

"Well if it means anything, you have my permission to go. If I may make a suggestion, may I recommend _282, 27_ _th_ _Street_? I think you'll find that place to your liking."

"That's oddly specific." Kai stated confused as Ozpin started to walk out of the room.

"Aren't all addresses?" Ozpin argued as the door closed behind him.

Kai walked to his desk and quickly wrote down the address on a piece of scrap paper.

 _'_ _282, 27_ _th_ _Street. What's so special about that address?'_

* * *

 **-Late Afternoon, City of Vale-**

 _'_ _Huh? Not what I expected.'_

Kai stood in Vale's streets at the address Ozpin suggested. The address in particular was a book shop known as 'Tukson's Book Trade' shown by the gold letters on a green sign above the shop.

 _'_ _Maybe Ozpin heard me ranting from outside my room about the TV and thought a book would be a good replacement. Regardless, I might as well look inside.'_

Kai stepped through the front door and a bell jingled, as he stepped through.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade. Home to every book under the sun." A large man with clean cut black hair and sideburns greeted Kai from a counter on the other side of the shop.

"Let me guess. Your name's…" Kai spent a moment trying to think of what possible name this man in front of him had. "Is your name Adam- no- no- wait! Ellis!" The man chuckled at his response.

"Close. Tukson's my actual name."

"Ugh! Why'd you tell me? Tukson was gonna be my next guess." Kai joked as he started looking around.

"Something in particular you want?"

"Not really, just browsing. Honestly I really should have brought this girl I know here, she really likes books. Gets flustered whenever anybody asks her about them though." Kai placed his finger along a row of books murmuring the titles. "…The Thief and the Butcher… Violet's Garden… Violet's Garden again… Wait are these comic books?" Kai went from shelf to shelf looking for the right book, but just couldn't find it.

"Is there a genre that you like? An author? Fiction or Non-Fiction?" Tukson asked.

"Honestly I'm not really a book person. I mainly came here because a friend suggested me to, not the girl I mentioned someone else." Kai explained as Tukson rubbed his goatee.

"Weeell If I may make a suggestion." Kai got intrigued and walked to the counter. "Wait here a second." Tuckson hummed a familiar tune heard in a certain box-canyon, while Kai looked around bored until he saw the bell on the counter. He looked around cautiously for anyone watching before ringing it. Then he ringed it again. And a- "Please don't do that." Tukson warned as he walked back in carrying a thick book.

"What is that?" Kai asked as Tukson dropped it with a loud thud.

The book was hardback and dark green with several engravings in it. And it contained a thick stack of A4 pages that were old and looked yellow or light brown instead of white.

"Honestly I haven't got a clue." Tukson confessed. "Got my hands on it recently, if I had to guess I'd say it was maybe… Twenty years old at least."

"Well do you know what it's about?" Kai asked as he started flipping through the pages.

The Findings of a New World

By DR ==== ======

"Looks like the names faded." Kai stated as he continued flicking.

"Yeah some of the words are like that, but it's mostly in good condition. From what I've read it seems like a work of fiction but the author makes it sound like it really happened, but what's really fascinating are the illustrations of these-"

"Shh!" Kai interrupted. "It can't be…"

 ** _July 7th_**

 ** _It has been 8 weeks since I have entered this strange and fascinating new world, which I have decided to record my travels in. A world without: Grimm or Dust but instead a foundation built upon extraordinary creatures that the locals call, 'Pocket Monsters.'_**

Kai could hardly believe his luck. "How much is this book?"

"Guess it's got your attention I see. As for the amount I haven't priced it yet but based on its age and condition… Eighty Lien!"

"Eighty Lien!" Kai shouted outraged. "That's all the money I've got!"

"Look if you don't want this book that's fine, I'm sure someone else will-"

Kai slammed his open hand on the book. "… Seventy Lien and I'll throw in a good word with that girl I mentioned."

"… Seventy five."

"Deal!"

The two shook and after Kai paid the man he unzipped his yellow backpack and placed the book inside, then he left the shop and started walking along the street.

 _'_ _I should have haggled more. Still at least this book finally gives me a lead to follow, or at the very least it might keep me from betting bored for a couple of weeks.'_

Kai kept walking until he bumped into someone head first. "Gah! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you-"

"Salutations!" The person said. They were a girl with short curly orange hair with a pink bow. She wore a whitish-gray old-fashioned blouse with short gray feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings. Her skin was light, her eyes were bright green, and she had freckles. "It is very nice to meet you."

"… You're not upset?" Kai asked confused.

"Upset? Why would I be? Isn't today wonderful." The odd girl chirped.

 _'…_ _Well don't look a gift Rapidash in the mouth.'_

"Well it's been nice talking to you." Kai walked off and looked behind him to see the girl was gone. He sighed in relief and as he turned around he saw the girl inches from his face. "AH!"

"Did you really mean what you said? Was it really nice talking to me?"

"Um… Yes…" Kai answered cautiously. He wasn't comfy around people, let alone strangers, let alone strangers that acted odd and wouldn't leave you alone.

"Oh, that is wonderful! I am pleased to have enhanced your positive experience today!"

Kai just shuffled back awkwardly when he was blind sighted and knocked down.

"Sorry!" Another unknown voice shouted.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm just-" Kai got up and felt odd. He felt… Lighter. He reached his hands behind his back and his eyes widened in a panic. "Hey! Give me back my backpack!" He shouted to the person that ran into him. The person stopped and turned around giving Kai a good look at them.

This person was a boy in his late teens with a tan wearing a white coat, blue jeans and two wrist bracers over black fingerless gloves. He didn't wear a shirt, exposing his bare chest and his hair was short, spiky and light blonde. He was also a Faunus as he had a tail covered in the same hair on his head, and as Kai accused he was carrying his yellow and black striped backpack.

The boy looked at Kai casually, then panicked, then he got a cocky grin on his face. He held Kai's backpack in the air and swirled it around a couple of times before throwing it at full force in his direction. Kai braced himself only for the bag to go soaring past him.

"OOF!"

"GAH!"

Kai looked behind him to see two police officers lying on the road, Kai's bag on top of them.

 _'_ _Wait did I just assist a crime… Not again.'_

"Thanks for letting me borrow your bag!" The boy thanked before running. Kai grabbed his bag and the police officers carried on their pursuit.

 _'_ _Well this has been-'_

"Oof!" Another voice was heard beside him as someone else had knocked into the mystery girl knocking her over.

 _'_ _And it's still not over. Wait is that?'_

Ruby, Blake and Yang appeared from the corner and Weiss was currently on top of the girl. She looked up and narrowed her eyes as the boy made his escape.

"No! He got away!" She cried out disappointed.

"Uuuhh, Weiss…?" Yang said awkwardly pointed out Weiss was on top of the girl.

"Euh!" She cried out getting up.

"Salutations!" The girl greeted.

"Is that your catchphrase?" Kai asked the girl.

"Kai?" Blake said noticing Kai.

"Really. Only now you notice I'm standing here."

"Um… Hello?" Ruby greeted the girl confused.

"Are you… Okay?" Yang asked equally confused.

"Define okay." Kai bluntly stated.

"I'm wonderful. Thank you for asking." The girl thanked.

The four Huntresses looked at each other and Kai just stood there with a face that said _'Welcome to my world.'_

"Do you… Wanna get up?" Yang asked.

"… Yes." The girl then flipped herself up onto her feet. "My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you! Though I suppose we've already met." She gestured at Kai and the Huntresses gave him odd looks.

"I bumped into her just now, we're acquaintances at best." Kai explained.

"Really! You truly think of my as your acquaintance?!"

 _'_ _Why?! Do?! I?! Keep?! Talking?!'_

"… Sure, why not?"

 _'_ _Gaauuuugh!'_

"Hi Penny, I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Blake elbowed her partner. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"Well that wasn't a forced introduction at all?" Kai commented sarcastically. "But since everyone else is doing it; I'm Kai." Kai tipped his fedora at Penny.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Though I suppose we've already met." She gestured at Kai again.

"You already said that." Weiss corrected.

"So, I did!" Penny realized.

"Well, sorry for running into you."

"Trust me she doesn't mind." Kai stated.

"Take care friend." Ruby waved.

"Wait a minute." Kai said catching up to them. And the five of them walked away.

"She was… Weird." Yang commented.

"You know I'd like to say that was the most memorable thing that happened to me today: but between leaving the school for the first time, the book I just bought, and the guy who robbed me then took out the policemen… Actually, you know what that girl was still more memorable." Kai judged.

"Wait!" Weiss stopped and turned around forcing Kai to stop. "That individual that robbed you… He wouldn't have happened to be a Faunus, would he?"

"Yeah. With a blond spiky tail. Why do you ask?" Weiss was about to confront Kai when Penny cornered them.

"What did you call me?" Penny asked.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you'd heard me." Yang apologized as Weiss looked frantically from where Penny was to where she now stood.

"Yeah she does that." Kai told Weiss.

"No, not you… You!" Penny walked up to Ruby.

"Me?!" Ruby leaned back nervously. "I- I don't know, I- what I- um, uh-"

"You called me 'friend'. Am I really your friend?"

"Uummm…" Ruby looked to her team who were all shaking their heads and signaling with their arms 'No'.

 _'_ _I fell into this trap once Ruby. Don't do a me!'_

"Ya, sure! Why not?"

The rest of team RWBY went wide eyed and collapsed while Kai just facepalmed as a gong conveniently went off in the background.

 _'_ _Aaaaaaaauuuugh!'_

"Ahaha! Sen- sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

"Ooh, is this what it was like when you met me." Ruby asked Weiss as she got up and dusted herself off.

"No, she seems 'far' more coordinated." Weiss replied.

"Soo, what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament." Penny answered.

"Aren't you a little early for that?" Kai asked.

"A bunch of ships dropped people off today, that's why we came out this afternoon." Blake explained.

"That and Weiss wanted to see the competition. What do you think Weiss?" Yang asked.

"Wait… You're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked.

"I'm combat ready!" Penny saluted.

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake mocked.

"It's a 'combat skirt'."

"Yeah." Ruby agreed as she ran to her partner. And the two low fived.

"Wait a minute." Weiss walked up to Penny and grabbed. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed… Rapscallion?"

"The who?" Penny answered unaware.

Weiss pulled up an… Abridged drawing. "The filthy faunus from the boat!"

"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. He's a person!" Blake stepped towards Weiss, Kai getting in the way.

"I've had a fast-paced couple of minutes. So, before this fight gets any further- CAN I PLEASE GET SOME CONTEXT FOR ONCE!" Kai demanded before clearing his throat. "Please."

"Context! Weiss keeps insulting this guy she hasn't even met! Just because he's a faunus!"

"That's not true!" Weiss defended. "I'm trying to find him because he was a stowaway! A criminal! He was chased just now by the police!"

"Then why do you keep calling him a faunus when you're insulting him, when that doesn't even matter?!"

"Because he is a faunus. Do you expect me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan, or this lamppost as a lamppost-"

"Or my family as slaves." Kai interrupted.

"That was completely different! Unlike you we know things about this riffraff!"

"Stop it!" Blake shouted.

"Wait a minute Blake at least-" Kai tried to say.

"Stop what? He, clearly broke the law. Give him time, he'll probably join up with those other faunus in the White Fang." Weiss defended.

"Okay Weiss that's too big of a gap to-"

"You, ignorant little brat!" Blake growled and walked off.

"Now Weiss you're upset but take a minute to-"

"How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate." Weiss reprimanded.

"You are a judgmental little girl." Blake insulted.

"What in the world makes you say that?"

"THAT'S IT!" Kai shouted very angrily before walking out of the way. "I'm out!"

"Kai!" Ruby called out.

"I'm not dealing with anyone else's problems. Not this time! I've got too many of my own and they are too stubborn to listen!" Kai pulled out the book he got from his backpack and started reading it as he walked.

 _'_ _Time for some answers.'_

Yang and Ruby stood close together as they observed their teammates arguing.

"Uhh, I think we should probably go." Yang suggested.

"Where are we going?" Penny asked innocently not grasping the situation.

"The mere fact that you would sort that faunus boy with the terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be." Blake stated.

"So, you admit it; the White Fang ' _is_ ' just a radical group of terrorists." Weiss contradicted.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

* * *

 **-Night, Beacon Academy-**

Several hours had passed and team RWBY were back in their dorm. Despite the change in location and the time passed, the situation remained unchanged.

"I don't understand why this is such a problem?" Weiss asked annoyed.

"That ' _is_ ' the problem!" Blake emphasized.

"You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you? The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil."

"There's no such thing as ' _pure evil_ '! Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like 'you' that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim! You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the faunus?"

Weiss walked to the window and stared into the night sky placing her hands on the windowsill.

"It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War. As in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company had a target painted on its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of Dust… Stolen. And every day my father would come home furious, and that made for a very difficult childhood." Weiss clenched her hand into a fist and hit the windowsill and Ruby went to her side to comfort her.

"Weiss I-"

"No! You want to know why I despise the White Fang?! It's because their a bunch of liars! Thieves and murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake retaliated. Weiss stepped back and Blake realized what she said. "I-" Blake ran out of the room as fast as she could.

"Blake! Wait! Come back!" Ruby cried out.

* * *

Kai was in his dorm, which opposite of team RWBY's was peaceful, just what Kai wanted. He sat by his desk reading an entry from the book, looking for an answer.

 _ **August 14th**_

 _ **In the month that I have started writing these entries I am glad to report that I have explored much more of this world than I could ever comprehend. I have wandered through most of the 'Kanto' region and now make way to the next nearest region 'Johto'. I have unfortunately not come any closer to uncovering a way home, though I may have a theory. In my travels I have heard about certain Pocket Monsters which I can now confidently refer to as Pokémon, that are of legendary status. These 'Legendary Pokémon' may be on equal par with perhaps even the four maidens of legend, though that is probably grossly untrue. Though if I may, by good fortune find one of these creatures, they may have the power to return me home. That is all for now, I will write my next entry once I make it to Johto, in the meantime please enjoy this illustration of perhaps my favourite Pokémon I have discovered thus far.**_

Kai looked at the drawing and laughed. "Oh, Magikarp."

An urgent knocking was heard from Kai's door and he got up to see who it was.

 _'_ _Who would want to knock on my door at this time of night. This better not be some joke.'_

Kai opened the door to see Weiss looking at her fingers. Kai stared at her unamused.

"Kai I-" She started to say.

"Weiss, it's late. I'm in the middle of a good book, I want to get in my pajama's soon and I am quite comfy. So, if this is about my help then you can move along."

Weiss looked at her hands then back to Kai. "Blake ran away." Kai's face went wide awake.

"… Oh."

"After you left we didn't stop our argument, it got worse. In fact, it got so worse that… I don't even know if we can trust Blake anymore. Ruby went after her and told Yang to go get team JNPR, and for me to get you to help us find her… Sorry for disturbing you." Weiss closed the door and it stopped with a thud against Kai's black boot, before opening it fully.

"I hate my heart so much." He sarcastically remarked as he stepped out of his room joining Weiss.

* * *

The two of them explored the school eventually making their way onto the Main Avenue.

"Blake! Blake!" Kai shouted.

 _'_ _This is so weird. Shouting into the night like Blake's a Meowth that won't come in.'_

"Kai over here!" Weiss shouted. Kai ran over and saw Weiss standing on the Huntsman statue.

"Weiss, this may not be the time for jokes, but I don't think you'll find Blake up there."

Weiss stepped down looking desperate. "Look!"

Kai looked in her hand and saw Blake's signature bow. "Blake's bow?"

"I've never seen her take it off before. Something is wrong."

Kai thought for a moment with a pained expression before sighing.

"All right fine!" Kai pulled out one of his Poké balls and brought out Slurpuff.

"Slurpuff!" She cheerfully greeted in her native tongue.

"Why did you bring her out?" Weiss asked.

"Remember the Forever Fall. If Blake never really takes her bow off then Slurpuff will easily be able to get her parfume, right?"

Slurpuff nodded and started sniffing Weiss, much to her discomfort. "Ah Blank parfume. Hand me the bow and my parfume shall sniff out their parfume easily."

"Blank parfume?" Weiss said baffled.

"I guess that means you don't really smell much of anything." Kai explained. "That's not important now, if we want to find Blake give her the bow now."

"Fine." Weiss gave Slurpuff the bow which she gladly sniffed.

"Hmm. What an oddly familiar parfume." Slurpuff murmured.

"Oddly familiar?" Weiss repeated. Slurpuff then started power waddling forwards along the straight.

"To Purrloin parfume. PARFUME!"

"What's a Purrloin?"

"A Purrloin is a Pokémon. Think of it as a devious purple cat on two legs. Regardless we need to follow Slurpuff." Kai ordered.

The three of them went as fast as Slurpuff could waddle along the long strip of land until they reached the docks where a single airship remained.

"Well, I suppose heading to the edge of school makes sense if you want to get as far away as possible." Kai surmised.

"But she isn't here. Could we have missed her?" Weiss stated.

"Doubtful, Slurpuff would have sniffed her out. Isn't that right Slurpuff?" Kai looked around him to see that Slurpuff had disappeared. "Oh great, now we've got two missing people."

"She's not lost she's over there." Weiss pointed to the absolute edge of the school perimeters were Slurpuff was staring into the sky. If she continued going forward, there would only be rocks and a large waterfall.

"Her parfume travels through the breeze." Slurpuff stated.

"What does that mean?"

"Well we're on an airship dock, maybe she took one into Vale." Kai guessed.

"Great, now what?"

Kai walked away towards the only ship where the pilot was ready to leave.

"Look sorry to bother you but did you see a ship fly out of here recently." Kai asked.

"What's it to you? I'm busy." The pilot answered rudely.

Weiss stepped in. "We are looking for my teammate and we believe she took a ship, can't you just tell us if you've seen one fly by."

"Kid, plenty of ships just flew by, we're leaving for the weekend."

"You don't have to be so rude about it."

"Not my problem!" Weiss stood there frowning when Kai held the remaining Lien he had in his hand.

"How much to take us to Vale?" Kai asked.

"Kai! You're bribing him!" Weiss said shocked.

"I'm not bribing him really. I'm just paying him for a lift; like a cab driver." The pilot grabbed the Lien and hopped onto their ship.

"You're lucky I was heading into Vale anyway, come on get in. Just don't expect me to give you a lift back, you do that on your own."

The two teenagers looked at each other before getting on the ship followed by Slurpuff, murmuring parfume as she got on. The three sat down as the ship flew into the sky.

"So, what were you two arguing about?" Kai asked.

"That hardly seems any of your business." Weiss replied coldly.

"I am on a ship heading into the city in the middle of the night, paid all the remaining Lien I had, and not asking for anything else, all because of your argument. I think I'm already involved plenty."

Slurpuff nodded her head in agreement. "You want to find Purrloin parfume, then tell Kai parfume why your parfume's conflicted in the first place."

Weiss hesitated but sighed looking at Kai and Slurpuff. "After you left the topic slightly changed. It went from talking about that offender, to the White Fang."

"Well given how you accused the guy of joining that doesn't seem too far a stretch." Kai stated.

"I only suggested it because he was a criminal. Regardless things got… Personal, for the both of us." Weiss clenched her fists. "I have a personal grudge with the White Fang, one that I've already shared too many times tonight, and Blake had the nerve to defend them, to treat me her teammate as the problem and this terrorist group as a bunch of misunderstood victims."

Kai slowly nodded. "Okay… When did Blake leave?"

"After I had explained my experience. Blake said that 'we were tired of getting pushed around'. And then she ran off. What does 'we' even mean?" Kai lowered his hat over his eyes and went deep into thought, not really knowing what to say. Weiss turned away when she felt something soft on her lap and looked down to see Slurpuff. "Euh! What are you doing?"

Slurpuff looked up at her. "Your parfume is misunderstood and troubled. It is prone to early assumptions of others parfume, a sour and off putting parfume indeed. Yet there is a kindness to your parfume, where if you can get past your sour parfume it becomes one of cleanliness, a blank parfume. Do not blame your parfume for Purrloin parfumes disappearance, your parfumes just clashed with each other this time, but in the future I believe they will come together to create a fragrant parfume. One for the two of you to share." Weiss looked at Slurpuff with sincerity but also confusion, which Kai managed to pick up on.

"I think what Slurpuff's trying to say is this isn't your fault. You judge people prematurely but if you can get past that, then you're a good person. You and Blake just happened to disagree on this subject in particular, and you can get past this… At least I think that's what she means." Kai summarized.

Slurpuff nodded and looked back at Weiss. "That is my intended parfume."

Weiss just sat there silently before hesitantly wrapping her arms around Slurpuff. "Thank you… Thank you for saying that."

Kai smiled softly at the touching display.

 _'_ _She's come a long way from the spoilt brat.'_ Kai thought.

* * *

 **-Night, City of Vale-**

The airship landed in Vale and everyone started to get up.

"All right this is your stop. Move it I've got places to be." The pilot commanded over the speaker.

"What are rude pilot." Weiss muttered bitterly.

"They just really want to get home, I can relate." Kai defended.

Slurpuff jumped up and started power waddling. "PARFUME! Parfume- parfume- parfume- parfume- parfume-"

Weiss and Kai followed her and searched the city. They got some weird looks mainly directed at Slurpuff but they didn't care, right now they were just concerned about finding Blake. Slurpuff started slowing down and reached a plaza where she came to a complete stop.

"It's stopped?" Weiss observed.

"Um, Slurpuff?" Kai asked.

Slurpuff turned around with a panicked expression and sweat jumping off her face (or body) in comedic fashion.

"AAH! I've lost the parfume!" Slurpuff zoomed around the small area with her nose frantically in the air hoping for a whiff but sat down panting in defeat. "I'm sorry Kai parfume! Blank parfume! My parfume has failed you!"

Kai walked over to Slurpuff and kneeled down patting her head. "Cheer up Slurpuff you did your best. No one could ask anymore of you."

Slurpuff kept sobbing and Weiss slowly walked over. "You've already gotten us this far, I'm sure we can handle the rest without you."

Slurpuff sniffed and controlled herself. "I suppose your parfume is right. It is time to retreat my parfume for now, until the time is right again." Slurpuff admitted returning Blake's bow to Weiss. Kai pulled out her Poké ball and returned her before getting up and looking at Weiss.

"So what do we do now?" Weiss asked.

Kai stood for a moment and rubbed his chin thinking. "What exactly are you going to do when we find Blake?"

"I'm going to bring her back obviously."

"And what if she refuses, what if she wants to fight or argues? What then?"

"That doesn't matter, she's our teammate and we're worried about her. At the very least we deserve an explanation on why she ran away. Why are you asking me these questions anyway, we're wasting time!"

Kai lowered his hand from his chin and grabbed a Poké ball from his belt. "I just wanted to know if another fight would break out again that's all. But right now, I don't think that's gonna happen." Kai enlarged the Poké ball and hesitated. "Weiss you're not gonna understand what's about to happen but for once can you promise me, you won't question it." Weiss nodded and Kai pressed the center button bringing out the Pokémon inside.

The Pokémon was bipedal and over three foot tall looking primarily like a blue and black canine. It had two spikes coming from the back of its paws and a third one coming from its cream coloured furry chest. It had blue fur on its thighs that almost resembled shorts and a medium length blue tail. It had four black appendages on the back of its head which joined with black fur on its face that almost looked like a mask over its eyes and snout. Its ears were pointy, its eyes had red lenses with black irises and it stood on its toes rather than its whole foot giving off a serious appearance.

"Good evening Master." He said in a deep rough voice. "I assume that you want me to search for Miss Belladonna's aura, am I correct?"

Kai nodded his head. "Do it Lucario." Lucario nodded back and he raised his left paw in front of him. As he started to close his eyes, one could almost see them glow yellow and as soon as they were covered the appendages at the back of his head raised.

"So… He can sense aura?" Weiss asked.

"Yep. Lucario can sense and manipulate aura, and since Blake is a Huntress Lucario will definitely be able to find her. She practically wears aura as a second skin." Kai explained.

"I have lost Miss Belladonna." Lucario informed lowering his paw and appendages.

"Or not."

"You can't find her." Weiss said despondently.

"I never said that. I said that I lost her, not that I didn't find her." Lucario corrected. "We were lucky I was brought out now, a few more seconds and she would have been out of my range."

"Well at least we know she's here." Kai said. "All we need to do is get in range again-"

"I may have a better idea. If I am allowed to share it."

"Oh. Yeah, of course Lucario. Go for it."

Lucario sensed for aura again. "Before Miss Belladonna left, I felt a familiar aura presence, one that I believe communicated with her. That aura is still in my range."

"So if we find that person they can tell us where Blake is." Weiss assumed.

"Precisely. Though I'm afraid you will not like it." Weiss looked at Lucario confused.

"And why is that?"

"As I said the aura is familiar. Specifically it is the same aura of the faunus that ran into Master earlier today, the one which you referred to as a 'rapscallion' was it?"

"Him! What would Blake have to do with him?"

"Maybe she knows him, it would explain why she got so upset when you insulted him." Kai tried to explain.

"Regardless, it is imperative that we pursue him now. The longer we wait, the greater the chance that this individual and Miss Belladonna will get away from us." Lucario explained.

"Right. Lucario travel on the rooftops to avoid attention, we'll follow you from down here." Kai ordered.

"As you wish." Lucario ran to two parallel buildings and wall jumped between them getting on top of one of the buildings, before running and jumping across them. Kai and Weiss quickly following.

"Hmm." Weiss hummed.

"What?" Kai asked.

"I simply find this family member of yours to be quite refreshing. He's nowhere near as daft or outlandish as the others I've seen."

"Yeah, Lucario has always been the serious one, but if you think this is impressive then you should see him in battle."

"Why?"

"Well I don't like ranking my family. Buuut, arguably Lucario is the strongest."

Weiss looked up at Lucario with intrigue.

 _'_ _So he's the strongest one.'_ She thought. Memories flashed of: Talonflame killing the Ursa Major with Acrobatics, Aegislash being immune to her attacks and appearing out of the shadows with Shadow Sneak, Greninja during Torrent blasting Cardin away with Scald, and Slurpuff's Dazzling Gleam taking out three Ursa Minors at once. _'What can this one do?'_

After a few minutes of travelling across the city, Kai and Weiss stopped and cautiously looked around the corner seeing the boy in a narrow alleyway.

"Okay Weiss we do this calmly, this guy is our only lead to Blake so we can't let him get away." Kai ordered.

"Got it." She replied.

Kai looked up at the rooftops and tipped his hat to Lucario, Lucario acknowledged it and went into hiding. The two then stepped forward. "There you are!" He called out.

The boy sharply turned to face Kai and Weiss, in his arms was a small pile of fruit.

"You look familiar, do I know you?" The boy asked.

"Don't toy with us. We know you talked to my teammate." Weiss said.

"… Sorry, you're not coming to me. Must have been thinking of someone else."

"Hey pay attention!"

Kai stepped forward ahead of Weiss. "Look we just want to know why our friend ran off. She's got black hair, a sheathed sword, normally wears a bow but recently lost it."

"Oh I know her!" The boy said enthusiastically. "Yeah just this morning I-" The boy stopped talking and stared at Weiss and Kai with a dumb face. "You know what. I've gotta go-"

"After him!" Weiss ordered. The boy quickly ran away, Weiss and Kai in pursuit.

"So much for doing this calmly." Kai groaned. " **Lucario Aura Sphere!** "

Lucario jumped off the roof of a nearby building putting his paws together as he was falling. A blue ball of aura formed and he threw it at the boy, knocking him away as it dispersed into flames.

"Wow." Weiss awed as Lucario landed.

"Nice shot." Kai congratulated.

"Thank you Master." Lucario thanked. The boy slowly started getting up and Weiss drew her sword. "I wouldn't strike him if I were you. Assuming we find Miss Belladonna it would be rather difficult to make amends if she learns you attacked the individual she was trying to defend from you. And I would suggest the same course of action to you Master, let me take the fall."

"But I-" Weiss started to say.

"I know you want to find Blake, but Lucario's right. If you fight him she'll think that it was personal." Kai explained.

Weiss lowered her weapon. "He better know what he's doing."

"Trust me he knows. Take care of him Lucario!"

Lucario walked forward to the boy as he stood up looking at the fruit on the ground.

"Come on man. It took me ages to find that food." The boy complained.

Lucario bowed in front of him. "My name is Lucario, will you do me the honor of sharing your name before we engage in combat."

"Huh? Sure, the names Sun! But do we really have to fight?"

Lucario faced Sun and looked him in the eye. "While a peaceful solution would be easier, you have already refused to share the information we require. As such conflict is inevitable: whoever's side wins will get what they desire."

"Well if that's the case…" Sun reached behind him and pulled out a long red staff with gold engravings. "If I win, then you can get me some more food."

Lucario smirked and put his paws together constructing a large bone made of aura which he held like a staff. "And if I win then you will take my Master to Miss Belladonna. Agreed?"

"Totally." In that moment the fight began, Lucario charged at Sun without warning.

" **Bone Rush!** " Lucario swung his bone to the right which Sun blocked by spinning his staff. He repositioned himself and aimed for Sun's head where the attack was blocked again and a third time at his left side where his staff was split in half by the attack. The two halves split again becoming nunchucks and Sun quickly placed his finger against a trigger as one of the top halves fired a shot against Lucario at point blank range. Sun spun in place hitting Lucario with one end of the nunchucks before reforming his staff and slamming Lucario in the chest knocking him back.

"How's that?" Sun asked proudly.

Lucario merely chuckled. "Impressive, you caught me off guard there. But this fight has only just begun." Lucario formed a ball of aura in his paws. " **Aura Sphere!** " Lucario fired the attack and Sun spun his staff in front of him to block it before jumping in the air and hitting Lucario with a falling swing. The staff rested on Lucario's left shoulder as he pulled back his right paw, clenching it into a fist as it was covered in an orange light. " **Power-Up Punch!** " Lucario punched Sun in chest knocking him back, as he recovered Lucario's body briefly lit up with an orange aura.

"Why were you just glowing?" Sun asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Lucario taunted. Lucario punched his fists together making them both glow orange as he ran up to Sun. Sun held his staff in front of him defensively to block the hit but Lucario jumped onto the alleyways wall before jumping behind Sun, he landed a Power-Up against his face, but failed to hit the second when Sun used his staff to force Lucario's arm away before kicking him in the chest. And yet again Lucario glowed with an orange aura, making Sun cautious. Sun jumped at Lucario again bringing his staff down like he did before, Lucario covered his paws in a black, red and purple aura before clapping them together.

" **Dark Pulse!** " Lucario emitted a wave of dark energy from his body, knocking Sun into one of the alleys walls causing him to flinch and stop his attack. As Sun recovered Lucario was above him in the air with an orange right fist.

" **Power-Up Punch!** " Lucario punched him while he was down, making dust fly and Sun slightly gag before calming his nerves and putting his hands together focusing, as his hair and tail glowed yellow. Lucario jumped back in defense but was blind sighted by a sucker punch, when Lucario recovered he was hit again by a flash of gold. Lucario was pushed back and managed to see his unknown attackers… Two golden copies of Sun. Lucario used Dark Pulse to destroy one, but the second ran up to Lucario and exploded as it collided with him, making him kneel as Sun got up slowly.

"I gotta say, you're pretty good." Sun complimented as he took several breaths.

"As are you." Lucario agreed. "I hope that when this is over we can meet again on friendlier terms."

"Come on, don't talk like that. We haven't even finished yet." Sun then looked at the ground and got an idea. "Then again it just about- IS!" Sun slammed the ground with his staff making the dropped fruit fly into the air, before Lucario reacted Sun swung his staff like a bat knocking the squashed fruit at Lucario. As a Steel type fruit acted like a Grass type move dealing very minimal damage… But it did blind his eyes.

"Ugh!" Lucario groaned as his vision was blocked.

"That's a rotten trick!" Weiss insulted.

"Hey nobody said I couldn't use fruit." Sun defended as Lucario jumped at him with Power-Up Punch only for him to miss. Sun saw his chance and hit Lucario in the side of the head making him slightly topple as Sun put his hands together summoning three more light copies. "Aaand, we're done here."

The three clones rushed towards Lucario as Kai smirked from the distance.

"You just lost." Kai said calmly.

"Huh?" Sun murmured confused.

"But he's about to get ambushed, he can't even see." Weiss insisted.

Kai chuckled. "He doesn't even have to."

As one of the clones' spin kicked, Lucario dodged to the left, a sucker punch was narrowly ducked, a leg sweep flipped over backwards. Every attack they executed, Lucario dodged with grace and technique. Sun gritted his teeth as he felt his energy drain, he couldn't focus for much longer. He desperately got the three clones to surround Lucario and wait.

 _'_ _Sun. You have been an extraordinary opponent, well worth the wait and for that I thank you. However…'_ Lucario thought as the clones all jumped at him. Time seemed to slow down as Lucario stood motionless, in his perspective the world was black… Except for a light blue aura that shadowed his surroundings like radar. Not too far away were Kai and Weiss, and in front of him was Sun with a yellow aura on his hair and tail fading out into the copies.

 _'_ _From the moment I sensed your aura…'_ Lucario jumped into the air at the last possible second causing the light clones to collide with each other and explode leaving Sun exposed and open.

 _'_ _I had already won.'_ Lucario put his paws together and put all of his energy into one last…

" **AURA SPHERE!** " Lucario threw the attack with everything he had, when it hit Sun it exploded into blue light and flames dealing a critical hit. Lucario landed, rubbing the fruit paste off his eyes and opened them to see Sun collapsed in front of a heavily cracked wall.

"That power, and agility. No wonder he's the strongest." Weiss awed.

"That, oh that isn't why he's arguably the strongest." Kai corrected.

"Then it's his aura sensing and manipula-"

"Nope, not that either. If I'm going to be honest Lucario on his own is just as strong as any other one of my team."

"Then what made you say he's the strongest?"

"Firstly, I said ' _arguably_ ' the strongest. And secondly… That's for another day."

Sun was on his hands and knees aching all over when Lucario's paw was above him. "Your aura has been exhausted, and you are no longer in a fit state to continue fighting." Lucario explained.

"I know, I know. Still stings though." Sun replied as he grabbed Lucario's paw and was helped up.

"True. But I think we can both agree, that it was a good battle."

"… Yeah. It totally was." Sun held out a fist and Lucario gladly fist bumped it, as Kai and Weiss joined them. "You know I gotta say, that girl has some pretty great friends."

 **Sometime later…**

Blake was cautiously walking through the alleyways trying not to be seen.

 _'_ _Of course, I had to forget my bow.'_ She thought regretfully. She looked down at her scroll to see that she had received a bunch of messages from Ruby and several from Yang… But none from Weiss.

 _'_ _Guys… I'm-'_

"Hey are you alright?"

Blake looked behind her startled to see Sun standing there.

"Sun! There you are!" She said relieved. "I appreciate you talking to me and taking me with you, but you can't just leave and then message me saying you need help!"

"Whoa, whoa. Chill, I just lost a bet."

"A bet? A bet with who?"

"With me."

Blake turned around startled again, when she saw Lucario she held out her sword and turned it into a gun. "Stay back!"

"I understand that tonight has been stressful for you Miss Belladonna. However, I am here to help." Lucario spoke calmly.

"Who are-? What are-?"

"My name is Lucario, I was sent by my master Kai Emblem as a favor to your teammate Weiss Schnee to find you."

"… Well if Weiss wants to find me, then she could have done it herself."

"I did."

Blake turned around again to see Weiss and Kai standing behind her on the route she came from.

"Weiss?! Kai?! I don't want to talk to you right now! You can't see me like this!"

"Blake it's okay, Sun told us." Kai stated.

Blake turned to Sun. "You told them!"

"Well they were gonna find you eventually, at least this way they wouldn't make a scene." Sun reasoned. Weiss stepped forward and held out Blake's bow.

"Why didn't you tell us Blake? As your teammates we deserve to know." Weiss could hardly look her teammate in the eye all she could focus on was the extra pair of cat ears on her head. "Why couldn't you trust us enough to tell us you were a faunus."

* * *

 **So remember when I said Kai would influence the plot of the show, I wasn't kidding. Since some of you are probably curious on why I included Weiss here's why: while I am a fan of Weiss in the show (she's my favourite of the main four and arguably my favourite overall character) I will admit that her character development with Blake was a little... Rushed. I get the point, it doesn't matter what you are, it only matters who you are, but I wanted to try something different by having Weiss take part and letting us see her development first hand based on hanging out with Blake. Of course that's my intention I can only hope I'm able to do a good job, we'll just have to wait 'till the end of the arc to know for sure if I succeeded.**

 **Either way until next time, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	12. Chapter 11: Ghosts of the past

**No questions this time so lets get right into it.**

* * *

 **-Morning, City of Vale-**

Last night was certainly… Tense. Between an intense argument, a wild parfume chase, a backstreet alley fight and surprising revelations; it was far from the peaceful night Kai wanted. He just had to help Weiss, didn't he? He just had to get attached to these people? And now here he was: broke, tired and uncomfortable sitting in on Remnants most awkward coffee morning.

Kai, Blake, Sun and Weiss were sitting on the roof of a coffee shop, each with a drink (whether that be tea, coffee or hot chocolate). Despite being forced to stay together in the city that night Blake and Weiss had hardly spoken to each other, they mainly just thought to themselves. Sun and Kai however…

"Thanks again for chipping in Sun." Kai thanked.

"It's no problem, if you really want to thank me though, you could drink it." Sun suggested.

"Not yet, it's too hot."

"It's been twenty minutes dude."

"And normally I have to wait thirty. It's the price to pay for not burning off my taste buds."

The two smiled and chuckled before noticing their female companions were silent.

"So, are you two gonna talk or?" Sun asked cautiously.

"I wouldn't force it, given how… Their last conversation went." Kai took a sip of his drink before placing it down quickly.

 _'_ _Curse my temperature sensitive palette.'_ Kai thought.

Blake took a deep breath and placed her cup down. "So. I guess you wanna know more about me."

"That would be an understatement." Weiss said coldly.

"Finally, she speaks!" Sun thanked. "Ever since I've met you, you've given me nothing but small talk and weird looks." Blake narrowed her eyes. "Ya! Like that."

Blake rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I don't need to ask you Weiss' but… Are you two familiar with the White Fang?"

"We're really bringing that up again." Weiss complained, and Kai jabbed her. "Hey!"

"Of course! I don't think there's a faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier- than- thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me." Sun answered.

Kai nodded. "Ditto."

Blake sipped her drink. "I was… Once a member of the White Fang."

Sun choked on his drink and Weiss tensed up. She was about to say something when Kai tightly grabbed her arm.

"We came all this way to find her. Let her explain herself." Kai released her arm and Weiss rubbed it while looking at Blake with a sour expression.

"Wait a minute, _you_ were a member of the White Fang?" Sun asked.

"That's right. I was a member for most of my life actually. You could almost say I was born into it." Blake replied calmly. "Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the faunus were subjugated to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. And I actually thought we were making a difference… But I was just a youthful optimist… Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fires to shops that refused to serve us. Hijacking cargo from companies that used faunus labor. And the worst part was? It was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect… Out of fear. So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence. And instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am a criminal hiding in plain view. All with the help of a little black bow."

Kai looked down solemnly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be it wasn't your fault. After you defended Velvet I knew that you actually cared, unlike others who would just sit and watch."

Weiss abruptly got up from her seat. "I need to think…" Was all she said as she walked away, Blake looked into her cup and Kai knew that there was no point in trying to stop her.

"So… Have you told any more of your friends about this?" Sun asked.

* * *

"Blaaake?!"

"Weiiis?!"

Ruby and Yang were walking through the city trying to find their teammates. After spending most of the night looking for them, they were disappointed to learn that not only had Blake not returned but also that Weiss had also gone missing.

"Blaaake?! Weiiis?! Where are yooouuu?!" Ruby shouted.

"Blake! Weiss!" Yang shouted.

"Where do you think they could've gone off too?"

"I don't know. Blake disappearing was one thing but Weiss… Opening up about her past must have hurt her more than we thought. Wait! Didn't you tell Weiss to have Kai help us look for Blake last night?"

"I already checked! He wasn't opening his door, maybe he was still sorting out his own problems like he said." Ruby sighed. "Maybe… I think sending Weiss to get Kai was a bad idea."

"And I think Ruby's hair looks wonderful today!"

Ruby and Yang turned around in surprise to see Penny. "Agh! Penny! Where did you come from!?"

"Hey guys. What are you up to?"

"Uuuhhhhh…"

"We're looking for our friends Weiss and Blake." Yang answered.

"Oooh! You mean the skirt girl and the faunus girl!" Penny understood.

Ruby and Yang blinked twice in surprise. "Wait. How did you know that?" Ruby asked.

"Well she was wearing a skirt yesterday-"

"Not that! About Blake being a you- know- what."

"Uh, the cat ears?"

"What cat ears? She wears a… Bow…" Yang realized as she and Ruby remained silent as a tumbleweed rolled by.

"She does like tuna a lot." Ruby whispered.

"So, where are they?" Penny asked.

"We don't know. They've been missing since Friday."

Penny gasped. "That's terrible! Well don't worry Ruby, my friend! I won't rest until we find your teammates."

"Uh, that's really nice of you Penny, uh but we're- we're okay. Really. Right Yang?"

"Uh y- yeah. We wouldn't want to trouble you or anything." Yang excused.

"Nonsense. Helping friends out is what friends are for." Penny cheerfully stated. Ruby and Yang couldn't think of anything to make her leave so an awkward silence filled the air, interrupted by the wind making the tumbleweed roll back from whence it came. "It sure is windy today."

* * *

Weiss was walking out of the coffee shop, after learning that her teammate was a member of the group that she hated, she felt conflicted and just wanted to get away. She walked out of the door and onto the street as she started walking down the path.

"Farewell Miss Schnee."

Weiss stopped in place and looked around. "Who said my name? Where are you?"

"Do not panic Miss Schnee, I cannot come out but if you wish to see me, merely look into the nearby alley.

Weiss hesitated for a moment but curiosity came over her and she walked into the nearby alley, once she was in there she could clearly see who was talking to her.

"Oh, it's you… Lucario wasn't it?"

"Yes, it is. I apologize for startling you."

"I wasn't startled!"

"I'm fairly certain you were." Lucario and Weiss stood quietly in the alley as the wind blew and a familiar tumbleweed rolled in. "You were leaving."

"Y- yes I was. Until you stopped me by talking to me." Weiss explained hesitantly.

"I merely said my goodbyes, I was not meaning to engage in a conversation." Lucario corrected.

"Oh…" Weiss looked away awkwardly.

"You seem distressed, do you wish to talk?"

"I doubt you would understand."

Lucario exhaled quietly before closing his eyes and raising his paw. "You're conflicted."

Weiss turned back in shock. "What-?"

"A strong emotional attachment from your past is conflicting with a recent emotional attachment, this has made you: scared, distressed, angry, annoyed, depressed… And yet there is a strong feeling of neutrality. Or at least a wish to be neutral." Lucario lowered his paw and opened his eyes. "Was I correct?" Lucario explained.

"… How did you do that?"

"Human beings are incapable of hiding their true emotions as long as one can read them. As many could read a face, I can read your aura and it tells me all of your feelings. I can even link your feelings to your thoughts and memories."

"… My thoughts and memories." Weiss repeated.

"Yes… Would you like me to tell you what Miss Belladonna is feeling?"

"No! That would be an invasion of privacy." Weiss refused.

"You really don't want to know?"

"Of course not."

"Please don't waste my time, your aura is telling me you clearly want to know, so just ask."

"… Well it wouldn't hurt to take a peak." Weiss admitted.

"I'll take that as a yes." Lucario closed his eyes and searched for Blake's aura. "Hmm, yes very interesting."

"What is it?"

"It appears that Miss Belladonna is conflicted. A strong emotional attachment from her past is conflicting with a recent emotional attachment, this has made her-"

"You're just repeating what you said about my aura."

Lucario opened his eyes. "Exactly."

Weiss was confused but her face lit up when she understood.

"Oh..."

Lucario nodded. "It's hardly a surprise. Both of you were personally affected from a young age, causing you to have your own personal outlooks. You may disagree but you are two sides of the same coin, yin and yang, truth and ambition, black and white." Lucario started walking away from Weiss. "Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long are just across the alley, if you hurry you may catch up with them."

"Wait!" Weiss cried and Lucario stopped. "Do you think… We can get past this?"

"I do not know… But perhaps if you can, that may be enough." Lucario left the alley leaving Weiss alone to think.

* * *

Blake, Sun and Kai were walking down the street in the middle of town.

"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asked with his hands behind his head.

"I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these dust robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before." Blake explained.

"What if they did? I mean… The only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there… Right?"

"I don't think that's how that works Sun. Even if we don't see them do it this time, that doesn't guarantee they didn't do it any of the other times." Kai critiqued. "Buuut, I haven't got anything better, so it's a start."

"The only thing is, I have no idea where that would be." Blake stated.

"Well, they're after Dust so: maybe a shop that hasn't been robbed yet, or a maybe a shipment." Kai suggested.

"The shipment seems more likely, but we have no idea when one might come in."

"There's a large freighter coming in later today."

The three of them turned around to see Weiss and Lucario behind them.

"Weiss!" Blake cried out surprised.

"How long were you two back there?" Sun asked.

"Around three and a half minutes after you left the coffee shop." Lucario answered.

"But to answer your question, Atlas is sending a shipment today in a few hours. Straight from the Schnee Dust company itself." Weiss explained.

"And how do you know this?" Kai asked.

"I am the heiress to the company. I try to keep updated on all business affairs when possible."

"And you're okay with this?" Blake asked suspiciously.

"If doing this will finally get you to come back with us; then sure, why not? Somebody needs to be the voice of reason."

"And you're sure that it's coming today?"

"Of course, I'm sure."

Everyone remained silent before Blake sighed. "Then let's get moving, we're wasting time."

"Woo! Stakeout! The four of us are just like Junior detectives!" Sun said enthusiastically. "Or are we more like the mystery bunch, you know: two girls, two guys one with blond hair one with brown… A talking dog."

"Please don't refer to me in that way. I find it very degrading." Lucario commented.

"Woah! Sorry dude! No offence."

"None taken."

Blake and Weiss both scoffed and walked on ahead, Sun soon following as Kai turned to Lucario.

"What did you say to her?" Kai asked.

"I merely gave her some perspective." Lucario answered. "However, if I may be so bold… Your aura signifies that you are unsure about this."

Kai sighed. "Blake still thinks the White Fang are innocent, and from my confrontation with Torchwick five weeks ago, I know that's not true. She's gonna be devastated when she finds out."

"I see. No matter, when the time comes I'm sure Miss Belladonna will be able to accept this fact and move on."

"How do you know?"

"Because when the time comes, she'll have people who she can rely on to pick her back up." Lucario stated as he walked forward. Kai looked at Weiss, Sun and Lucario close to Blake and he started catching up.

 _'_ _She really does.'_ Kai thought.

* * *

Elsewhere Penny and Ruby were waiting on the street as Yang came out of a building.

"Thanks anyways!" Yang said when she closed the door and scoffed. "This is hopeless."

"We can't give up yet!" Ruby declared.

"So, are Blake and Weiss your friends?" Penny asked.

Ruby sighed. "Yes Penny."

"But you're mad at them?"

"Yes! W- well I'm not, but the two of them are mad, with each other."

"It's complicated." Yang said bluntly.

"Are Weiss and Blake friends?" Penny asked.

"Well that's kind of up in the air right now." Ruby answered.

"But, why?"

Ruby sighed and Yang started explaining. "Well you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was."

Penny gasped. "Is she a man?" She whispered.

Yang chuckled quietly while Ruby raised her hands. "No, no, Penny, she's n- I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she ran off."

"And based on how the two argued, we don't know if Weiss would like what she is." Yang added.

"I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things." Penny explained, making Yang and Ruby looked down in thought.

"Me too." Ruby said.

* * *

 **A few hours later…**

Blake, Weiss and Kai were lying down on one of the docks many warehouses waiting for something to happen. Lucario was in a crouched meditating position sensing for any adversary aura signatures.

"Did I miss anything?" Sun asked as he appeared from out of nowhere.

"Yeah you did, that's why we're still lying here after several hours." Kai sarcastically replied.

"Yeah, I can't tell if you're being serious or not."

Kai gave Sun a 'really' look and Blake turned to see him.

"Not really. They've offloaded all the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there." Blake explained.

"Right gotcha." Sun held out an apple from a pile over his other arm. "Stole you guys some food."

"It is very hard to get to trust you, when you keep breaking the law each time we meet." Weiss stated coldly.

"Okay, that time I knew you were being serious."

Weiss gave Sun an upset look when the sound of splashing water got their attention, they saw the water had just been disturbed and puddles were on the docks pavement.

"What was that?" Weiss asked.

"Careful, someone might have spotted us." Blake stated.

"While I can assure you we've been spotted, they are of no threat." Lucario explained.

"And how do you know that?" Weiss asked suspiciously.

A wet slap was heard behind them and everyone looked behind them to see Greninja dripping wet.

"What, you're acting like you've never seen a Water Type wet before." He judged.

"Technically they haven't." Lucario stated without turning around or opening his eyes.

"Good point- hey are those apples for us?"

Greninja looked at Sun, and Sun threw an apple to Greninja which he gladly started to eat.

"Those were stolen you know." Weiss said coldly.

"I could get an apple off a tree for free, who are the real criminals here?"

"I like the way you think frog-dude." Sun complimented.

"Why thank you, Infernape guy." The two then fist (well fist/clenched front foot) bumped.

"Technically, in order for you to be eating that apple it must have been grown on private land by a farmer." Lucario started to explain. "That apple would have been one of many that would have been sold to a supplier who would have sold it to a shop or market in exchange for-"

"I wasn't asking for an explanation of economics, Lucario."

"I was merely trying to explain why stealing an apple is considered an illegal act."

"Is he always like that?" Sun asked.

"You mean a serious know-it-all. Oh yeah! And I have to live with him" Greninja told Sun.

"That's rough buddy."

"I know, I know." Greninja repeated softly as Sun patted his back.

"Why are you even out here?" Blake asked.

"I asked him to help out." Kai answered.

"With what?" Weiss interrupted.

"To check if this was an inside job!" Greninja started to explain. "It's no big deal I just: swam out into unknown waters, boarded the boat without a ladder, searched and eavesdropped it without getting caught and made my escape! No thanks are necessary, did I leave anything out Lucario?"

"Only that you've spent the last couple of hours swimming instead of reporting back to us." Lucario answered.

"… Nobody should be allowed to have these powers."

"Well did you find anything at least?" Blake asked.

"Nada. The place was as clean as I am."

"Well given how the water is untreated and comes from the outside-" Lucario started to say.

"I've just been swimming in there, don't tell me how dirty it might have been!"

"It was your own fault for wasting time." Lucario stated before opening his eyes and getting up. "Be quiet!"

"I hadn't even said anything back… Yet."

"I said quiet! Someone's coming, and fast!"

"Where I don't see anyone around us?" Kai said.

"They're coming from behind us… And above us."

"Above us?" Sun asked confused when the sound of turbine engines and a gust of wind caused everyone to lower their heads. A Bullhead ship flashed it's search lights and landed in the middle of the shipping containers. It opened to let out several familiar looking masked figures.

"Oh no." Blake stated seriously.

"Is that them?" Sun asked before seeing the symbol on one of the members backs.

"Yes. It's them."

The White Fang members walked out of the ship and while one holding a gun gave orders. "Alright. Grab the tow cables."

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?"

"No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right.

"Blake…" Weiss started to say.

Lucario growled and turned to Greninja. "Greninja, please refrain yourself from making any rash decisions. As difficult as that may be for you."

"What are you talking about? I wasn't going to just jump out there." Greninja defended. "Honestly what do you take me-"

"Hey! What's the hold up?" A familiar man in a bowler hat walked out of the ship. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, sooo why don't you animals try to pick up the pace."

"Torchwick!" Kai and Greninja both gasped.

"Wait you know that guy?" Sun asked.

"Oh, yeah we do! I've been waiting a long time for this!" Greninja cheered as he got up, only for Lucario to grab him. "Lucario!"

"Please remain calm Greninja! I understand that this is personal for you, but we must plan our next step carefully, it was not your fault he got away." Lucario explained.

"Lucario's right Greninja, settle down." Kai agreed.

"W- What?! Are you serious right now?! We have a chance to stop him here! And we're not gonna take it! After he hurt you!" Greninja argued.

"Greninja…"

"This isn't right." Blake interrupted. "The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like that."

"Well you were wrong about them before." Weiss argued.

"This is different! Humans are forbidden to be a part of the White Fang especially after it was taken over. The fact he's here with them… It's taboo."

"Then just take a moment to think about why he's with them."

"There's no time for that." Blake got up and unsheathed her sword.

"Hey what are you doing?!" Sun shouted as Blake walked off the edge of the building.

"Oh, forget this!" Greninja declared, pulling himself free and jumping into the shadows.

"Greninja!" Kai called out.

"This is not good. We need to stop them now! Before they do anything drastic!" Lucario warned.

"Then we need to hurry!" Weiss agreed.

Blake meanwhile had snuck her way around the containers and was observing a conversation between Torchwick and one of the White Fang members holding a long cable.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" He berated as Blake appeared behind him with her sword to his throat. "What the-? Oh, for f-"

"Nobody move!" Blake demanded as several members brought out guns and swords in retaliation.

"Woah! Take it easy little lady." Torchwick reasoned, as Blake was getting surrounded she took her bow off revealing her faunus nature.

"Brothers of the White Fang. Why are you aiding this scum?" Upon seeing Blake as a faunus the White Fang lowered their weapons and dropped their guard.

"Huh, oh kid. Didn't you get the memo?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together."

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation." A powerful gust forced Blake's head down as the sound or engines filled the air.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation."

Two more Bullheads came in and Blake looked at them in surprise, Torchwick smirked seeing an opportunity and aimed his cane at Blake's feet.

"Mine- mine- mine- mine- mine- mine- mine- mine- mine-"

A repetitive voice distracted the White Fang members, Torchwick and Blake as they looked for its source.

"Okay, does anyone else hear that?" Torchwick asked.

"It sounds like it's getting closer." A White Fang member added.

"And it sounds a lot like-" Blake whispered as a swift Aerial Ace kick to Torchwick's face knocking him into the air before a blue blur with a trailing golden light delivered a second downward swipe knocking him to the ground.

"Mine." Greninja said calmly.

"Wait a minute!" One of the White Fang members shouted. "That looks like the thing that took down four of our members several weeks ago! I didn't know it could talk!"

Upon hearing that last part Greninja facepalmed and groaned. "Oh, dear Arceus I did it again."

"Wait! You attacked the White Fang!" Blake accused.

"Oh, right, yeah, that. Short version, they were picking on some guy who we were gonna threaten to give us a place to stay so we beat them up- but! It all worked ooout."

Blake scowled at Greninja who just shrugged as the sound of a gunshot caught their immediate attention.

* * *

Meanwhile in the city an explosion was heard and Ruby, Yang and Penny looked to see smoke in the distance.

"Oh no." Ruby said direly.

* * *

Back at the docks Greninja and Blake were unharmed as they saw Torchwick lying down with a smoking cane pointing upwards.

"Hah! Ya missed!" Greninja taunted, only to be met with Torchwick grinning. Blakes eyes narrowed and looked upwards as a chain broke causing a shipping container to start falling onto them.

"Look out!" Blake warned.

Greninja looked up. "Oh, nuts!" A white snowflake glyph appeared floating next to them causing them to look to the side. "What the-?" The two of them were magically shoved out of the way of the container causing it to crash on no one, making Torchwick frown as he got up and aimed at the two of them again.

" **Lucario use Dark Pulse!** "

A dark wave collided with Torchwick pushing him away as he turned to see Kai and Lucario facing him, before looking back and seeing Weiss and Sun with Blake and Greninja.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked Blake concerned.

"Thanks to you." Blake answered gratefully.

Torchwick looked back to Kai. "Well, well, well Boy Scout. Fancy meeting you here."

"Cut the chit- chat Torchwick. Turn yourself in and things won't have to get violent." Kai ordered. "And when I say get violent, I really mean get violent for you."

"Well you talk a big game Boy Scout. Let's see if you can back it up." Torchwick started firing his cane rapid fire at the trainer and his Pokémon.

"Lucario retreat!"

"Of course!" Lucario followed, as the two of them narrowly dodged several explosions making their way behind some shipping containers, where Blake and the others met up with them avoiding gun fire.

"Oh, hey guys! Fancy meeting you here." Greninja commented.

"What were you thinking?" Lucario angrily prodded. "Your reckless actions almost got us killed!"

"Hey, hey, hey. I was just following Blake's lead."

"And that was dumb move, you should have realized that."

"Hey!" Blake defended.

"I mean he does have a point." Sun agreed, as Blake looked at him with a sour expression.

"However, I didn't warn Miss Belladonna not to engage. I specifically told you not to rush in!"

"And if I didn't Blake would have gotten shot in the foot! Don't tell me you didn't notice his cane!" Greninja argued.

"Her aura would have taken the hit! What it wouldn't have taken was getting crushed under tons of weight from a shipping container!"

"Well then maybe you should have covered us before he shot the chain off!"

"Is this really the best time for you two to be arguing?!" Kai rhetorically asked.

An explosion went of close to them and they turned to see Torchwick and two White Fang members with guns pointed on them. Blake used a shadow copy and Weiss used a glyph to propel themselves away as Kai pointed at the members.

" **Greninja Water Shuriken! Lucario Aura Sphere!** "

Before the members could react, they were swiftly taken down by shuriken's or an aura projectile, Torchwick got a banana peel thrown at him distracting him from firing, he removed it and got kicked in the face knocking him back.

"You're not getting near them." Sun threatened.

Lucario turned to Greninja. "We'll talk about this later."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm irresponsible and don't think things through. You've given me this speech a million times." Greninja replied making Lucario grin.

"Then after I've cleaned up your mess, I will tell you for the million- and- first time."

"Oh, now it's on!"

More White Fang members surrounded them and Kai adjusted his hat.

"All right guys, keep aware of your surroundings, don't get caught out by one of them getting the jump on you." Kai suggested, making Greninja and Lucario nod. "All right then. **Greninja Night Slash! And Lucario Bone Rush!** "

The two Pokémon formed their energy weapons and got in defensive stances ready to strike.

 _'_ _Let's go!'_ Kai thought with a smile.

* * *

 **And that's the chapter, gotta love cliff-hangers am I right, Volume 5 did. But regardless the next Chapter is a very important one for the story in terms of its plot and its future. I mentioned all the way back in the prologue that I have pre-written a bunch of chapters so that I could post them on here week by week like a TV show. The next chapter... Is the last. So I suppose you can consider it the act one finale so to speak. So whatever you do, don't miss next weeks conclusion to the 'Semi-Volume 1 arc' and the end of act one as well as the future of the story.**

 **Until then this is Kallerston signing out!**


	13. Chapter 12: It all comes together

**This is it guys, the end of act one and the future of the story unveiled. Before I finish this act there are a couple of questions first.**

 **Guest: Actually it was a reference to Team Four Stars DBZ abridged. Specifically when Vegeta returns and the first thing he does is take out Android 19.**

 **PhoenixClaw2128: I haven't taken levels too much into account, mainly the base stats. And in my experience, when Aegislash takes a super-effective hit in blade forme, it's getting knocked out.**

 **With those out of the way, may I present the act one finale!**

* * *

Blake crouched as a sword went between her head, her body faded into shadow as she jumped at the attacker slashing at them three times in quick succession. Blake pulled the blade back turning it into a gun as she began shooting at two members pointing guns at her forcing them to retreat.

Weiss zoomed as a White blur stabbing a member between her sword and a white glyph placed behind them. She jumped of the glyph and propelled herself into the air where she swung her sword in place, making a glyph directly in front of her which shot icicle shots at the members freezing their bodies, weapons or forcing them to run away to find cover. Weiss landed on her two feet as four members surrounded her, she stabbed her sword onto the ground causing four icicles to uproot themselves taking the members out in surprise. She looked on smugly as she was hit in the face by a serrated object causing her to fall flat and drop her sword.

"Lady Luck is smiling today." An ominous deep voice taunted. Weiss rolled herself over to get a good look at her attacker. He looked like the rest of the members but was significantly taller and held what looked like a bone saw with two gun barrels at the sides. "My brother was killed in one of your Schnee company mines. Looks like the world wanted me to have revenge!" Weiss went to get her sword when the member fired his weapon releasing ice dust that froze Weiss' foot to the ground preventing her from escaping. She looked back up to see the member with his saw raised towering over her. "This ends now!" He swung down his saw and Weiss braced herself as a loud clanging and grating of metal filled the air, Weiss looked to see Blake blocking the attack with her sword.

"Stay away from her!" Blake demanded.

"Why don't you make me?!" The two were stuck in a stalemate as Blake was slowly pushed down, Weiss narrowed her eyes and formed a white glyph under Blake's feet which she angled upwards to give Blake more leverage. Blake grabbed her sheath and gave a battle cry, cutting the members chest forcing him back, then striking with her sword and forced him into the air with her sheath, knocking him out as he fell with a thud. Blake panted and turned to Weiss.

"Are you all right?" Blake asked sincerely.

"Thanks to you. I guess this makes us even then." Weiss answered with a smile which Blake returned.

* * *

A White Fang member staggered backwards when a thin dark light flashed behind them, they fell forward as Greninja sheathed his Night Slash.

"Four." Greninja counted.

Lucario hit a member in the leg with Bone Rush making them kneel, he then swung it twice across their face, before hitting their other leg making them crouch as he brought the attack down harshly for a fifth time against the top of the members head, knocking them out.

"Is it really necessary for you to be counting your knockouts?" Lucario asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Well how else are we going to rate who's better?"

" **Greninja use Scald!** Six o'clock high!" Kai ordered pointing behind him.

Greninja looked behind him to see a member with a gun pointed at him from on top a container, before they were pushed off screaming by a geyser of boiling water.

"Five."

"Greninja to your left!" Kai warned, Greninja looked too late as a sword slashed at him making him recoil. The member was then taken out by a ball of blue aura.

"Perhaps if you spent more time focusing on your surroundings instead of polishing your ego, then maybe you wouldn't be taking as much damage." Lucario critiqued.

"Psh! You're just saying that because you're losing, and you want me to lose count." Greninja accused before noticing another member behind him which he dispatched with a quick Aerial Ace. "Six."

" **Lucario Power-Up Punch!** Rush them down!" Kai declared. Lucario jumped at a member with glowing fists punching them in the gut. They swung a sword which Lucario avoided before upper cutting them in the jaw. The member brought their sword down hard which broke against Lucario's Steel type body. They looked at Lucario with a quivering lip as Lucario knocked them out.

"Eight, and now I have three attack stat boosts." Lucario explained.

"You have been keeping count, I knew this was a competition!" Greninja exclaimed.

"This isn't a competition! I hoped that telling you my knockout count would nullify your previous comment, and make you stop this distracting and pointless talk!" Lucario pushed his paws together and knocked out a member with Dark Pulse before he even noticed Lucario. "Nine."

"Calm down you two, right now we need to-" Kai's eyes flashed blue and he grabbed his head in pain as he fell onto his knees. A rocket flew right over him and exploded in the distance, a White Fang member was behind Kai holding a smoking bazooka looking surprised. Greninja and Lucario both noticed him and gave sinister glares making him drop his weapon and run away in a panic screaming. Greninja suddenly appeared in front of him and pushed him back with Scald sending him to Lucario to get pummeled by four strong consecutive hits of Bone Rush sending him flying back as Greninja stomped on him with a glowing blue foot courtesy of Aerial Ace before kicking him further upwards into the air. Lucario put his paws together and launched an Aura Sphere exploding as it hit leaving the member smoking and heavily beaten.

"Think we overdid it?" Greninja asked cautiously.

"Not in the slightest." Lucario answered bluntly. "Also, ten."

"Come on that was half each for both of us!"

"No because: I got the finishing blow and you can't have half a person."

"Why you little-"

Kai got up and his two Pokémon rushed to him.

"Master!"

"Kai!"

"Ugh, I need to see a doctor about these headaches." Kai complained. "So who's winning the competition?"

Lucario looked at Greninja smugly and Greninja crossed his front legs and pouted. "It's not a competition."

* * *

Sun swung his fist at a White Fang member, they dodged as Sun followed up with a backhand hitting them away, he dodged a swing from behind him and caught another member off guard by hitting him in the face with his tail. Another member got close and he spin kicked them in the face before punting another member in the chest, using the momentum to roll away under a sword swing laughing. He pulled out his staff as he got himself up and swung into a member's chest knocking them down before twirling it in the air hitting another member to his side, striking another member three consecutive times to his right, and slamming the ground creating a shockwave beating two other members into submission as he spun on the ground sweeping the closest members leg. Blake and Weiss looked on from the distance to see Kai, Greninja, Lucario and Sun fighting the members. Sun blocked a swing with his staff and ducked before kicking the member in the face and jumping on their back kicking them into Torchwick's direction. Torchwick dodged and growled before firing a shot from his cane that Sun blocked by spinning his staff in front of him. Blake jumped in front of him and ran at Torchwick.

"He's mine!" She cried, as Greninja ran after her.

"I call dibs!" He argued.

Blake swung downwards with her sheath against Torchwick's cane. Torchwick swung his cane over a ducking Blake who slashed upwards with her sword as Torchwick swung at her again parrying the attack. The two swung and parried consecutively until Blake kicked the cane as she jumped into the air and jumped from a shadow clone letting her slash through Torchwick. Blake charged from a clone again to strike Torchwick who got defensive and parried her attack as she kept repositioning herself with her clones to strike. Torchwick punched Blake in the face only for her shadow to take the hit as she ducked before blocking another swing with her sword and sheath. Blake's sword got trapped in the canes handle and Torchwick forced her arm to the side and hit her in the hip, continuing his momentum he swung upwards hitting her in the face twice before knocking her to the ground.

As he did Greninja hit him in the chest with Aerial Ace, he attacked again at a downward angle for Torchwick to parry, then striking him in the chest with the handle. Greninja didn't flinch and spun in place using Night Slash, getting blocked by Torchwick three times before a downwards slash was caught in the canes handle. Torchwick pulled the handle away as the Night Slash vanished leaving him open when Greninja's front feet glowed light blue delivering an Aerial Ace uppercut to the chin and a straight punch to his shoulder. Torchwick blocked a second attack and spun his cane blocking a third Aerial Ace and knocking Greninja slightly upwards. He used the momentum and Aerial Ace kicked Torchwick into the air before using the move again on his front feet making the golden streaks extend as if they were blades. He jumped into the air and slashed at a helpless Torchwick from the below before becoming a blur and slashing at him again from behind him, then as another blur he reappeared in front of him and slashed at him with both arms in an 'X' pattern hitting him downwards where Blake knocked him away with a sword swing sliding him across the ground. As he lay there Torchwick saw a hanging shipping container and shot at the chain as he got up. Greninja acted immediately throwing five Water Shuriken's upwards slicing the container apart making the pieces fall away from them.

"That trick won't work twice!" Greninja taunted as Torchwick scowled.

Sun watched from the distance. "We've got to help them!"

"That won't be necessary." Lucario stated as he opened his eyes, briefly glowing yellow. "I believe backup has arrived."

Sun, Kai and Weiss looked confused as a new challenger was heard.

"Hey!" Ruby shouted from on top a building twirling her scythe.

"Oh, hello Red! Isn't past your bedtime?" Torchwick greeted falsely as Penny and Yang walked up behind her.

"Ruby are these people your friends?" Penny asked.

"Penny get back!" Ruby warned.

"Yeah, leave this to us!" Yang agrees punching her fists together bringing out her gauntlets.

Torchwick fired at Ruby knocking her back in an explosion, Yang quickly catching her.

"Ruby!"

"I'm fine!"

Penny looked at Ruby before looking again at Torchwick who was laughing (evilly if I may add). Greninja brought out Night Slash as Lucario jumped in front of him.

"Lucario!" Greninja exclaimed.

"You can rest now. She'll handle the rest." Lucario said calmly.

"Who? Ruby? She's great and all, and she did almost capture Torchwick like me. But in case you didn't notice… She almost got shot off a building!" Greninja looked on harshly as Lucario chuckled. "What's so funny?"

Lucario looked at his teammate. "And what made you think I was talking about her."

Penny looked at Ruby in Yang's arms as she walked forward.

"Penny, wait stop!" Ruby warned.

"If you get any closer he'll shoot you!" Yang reinforced as Penny looked back on the two.

"Don't worry. I'm combat ready!"

A single floating blade came out of Penny's back that soon multiplied into ten that followed her as she jumped off the building. Three of them shot forward taking down two unfortunate White Fang members before she even landed. The blades came back together and seemingly multiplied again before Penny slashed them all to her left knocking a member into the air, they returned impaling another member forcing them into a container. Two members tried to get close when the blades formed a star-like shape blocking them, sending them back. Penny backflipped with her blades following her hitting another member with a spinning attack before throwing all the blades in the star-like formation knocking a dozen members into the air (strike)!

"Woah!" Sun awed.

Weiss looked at Penny and then at the fallen members with confusion. "How in the-?"

Kai looked stunned but then smiled. "Glad to know I have her as an acquaintance."

Greninja looked at Lucario suspiciously. "How long have you known about this?"

Lucario held a paw under his chin. "From the moment Master bumped into her something about her aura has seemed off…"

"Off?"

"It is difficult to explain but it seems… Unnatural, fabricated if you will."

"Fabricated? … You've lost me."

"In simplest terms, it's almost as if her aura was telling me that she was… Made for combat."

"Made… So, like a robot?"

"Absolutely not." Lucario shot down. "That would be ridiculous!"

"… What about a genetically altered super soldier?"

Lucario closed his eyes and groaned face palming. Three Bullheads flew in firing down bullets from gatling guns. Penny blocked the shots with her blades spiraling in front of her and released two more blades from her back that hooked themselves into a building behind her. She pulled herself back and made her blades circle in front of her charging a green ball of light. She pulled back her arms making the light briefly vanish before thrusting them forward firing a giant green laser that cut two of the bullheads clean in half, their sides glowing red from heat as they splashed into the water.

"Could she always do that?" Yang asked as Ruby looked back at Penny who was facing down another Bullhead carrying a dust container.

She stabbed all of her blades into the vehicle and wires connecting her to them became easily visible as they shook in the wind before tightening, as Penny walked backwards preventing the ship from escaping.

"Woah. How is she doing that?" Ruby awed.

Torchwick looked on in annoyance as he turned to a Bullhead behind him. He ran towards it when several blue saucers flew past him cutting its wings off, as Greninja landed in front of him.

"In the ancient words of my people: Ja Gren Grenin Gren Gren Ja." Greninja proclaimed as Torchwick pointed his cane at Greninja's head.

"And what does that gibberish even mean?" Torchwick asked annoyed.

"You might wanna watch your back."

A loud clang was heard when Torchwick fell forwards knocked out. Kai stood behind him holding a manhole cover which he quickly dropped with a loud clang.

"Geez that was heavy." Kai complained. "But man was that satisfying."

A loud explosion caught their attention as Kai and Greninja turned around to see the fiery remains of a Bullhead crashed into nearby shipping containers. Blades floated out of the wreckage and returned to Penny who suddenly got a panicked expression and started running off.

"Hey Penny wait a minute!"

Lucario got in the way. "Let her go Master. Her aura tells me that she has somewhere very important she needs to return to."

"Yeah… Okay." Kai grumbled.

"What is it with this world and teenage girls am I right?" Greninja joked.

"It's not just the girls Greninja. Master has met several male individuals who appear to share the same combat abilities." Lucario corrected.

"But come on, we've seen a lot more women."

"That is technically true."

"Speaking of women. I think it's time for four of them to get re-united." Kai hinted at while looking towards Ruby and Yang heading to Blake, Weiss and Sun.

"Blake! Blake!" Ruby shouted running up to her.

"Ruby! I-" Blake started to say.

"We know about the cat ears! And we know you're not a man, but we don't know what you are! Well we think we know what you are, but you haven't explained anything to us! But that doesn't matter because I'm glad that you're safe, but Weiss is missing-!"

"Um Ruby, Weiss is standing right there." Yang pointed out.

"… Weiss! There you are! We were so worried when you didn't come back! I know talking about your past must have been hard! And we just wanted to say-!"

"That's enough Ruby." Weiss interrupted. "I didn't run away because things got too emotional for me, I simply went to find our teammate."

"Oh… Well that's an understandable reason too."

"And is everything okay with you two now?" Yang asked.

"Actually, there is something I need to say to her." Weiss stated turning to Blake as everyone else backed away from the tense atmosphere.

"Look Weiss. I know that you've learnt some things about my past, but I want you to know personally that I am no longer associated with-" Blake started to say.

"Stop. Do you have any idea how long this has been going on for? How long it's been since you ran away, I tracked you down and then stayed with you against my better judgement? Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in those twelve hours I've decided…" Weiss remained silent as everyone else waited hesitantly for an answer. "I don't care!"

"You don't care?"

"After everything that's happened. After how tired I am. After all of the emotions I've felt. I've decided that it doesn't matter. You're no longer one of them right?"

"No, I- I haven't been since I was younger-"

"Upupupupup! I don't need to hear it again. All I want to know, is that the next time something this big comes up you'll come to your teammates, and not some… Someone else."

Blake looked around at her teammates and wiped her eyes. "Of course."

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby cheered.

"I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you!" Weiss accused Sun, to which he nervously laughed.

"Uh Hum!" Team RWBY and Sun turned to see Greninja standing right in front of them. "I believe there is something that at least two of you might want to be saying right now. A certain two-word sentence sometimes shortened to one word that is commonly used to show appreciation for someone's actions." Greninja crossed his front legs and rolled his front foot in an impatient manner.

"No thanks are required. We merely did what we believed was the right course of action." Lucario explained as he and Kai walked forward.

"Though I suppose a thank you wouldn't hurt given how I gave up my time, sleep and money to help you people." Kai stated.

Weiss and Blake briefly looked at each other. "Thank you, Kai." They said simultaneously.

"No problem."

"UH HUM!" Greninja grunted loudly.

"That behavior is hardly worth appreciation Greninja." Lucario critiqued. "Besides it is rather unlikely our involvement affected much in the grand scheme. The least we did was re-unite Miss Belladonna and Miss Schnee." Lucario smiled smugly. "And even then, you had no involvement in that."

"Are you trying to start something?!"

"I am merely stating the facts of the matter."

"Why you-?"

"Excuse me!" Yang interrupted. "I hate to break you two up buuut- who are you?" She pointed at Lucario.

"My apologies." Lucario bowed in front of everyone. "My name is Lucario. It is a pleasure to finally meet you both in person Miss Xiao Long and Miss Rose."

"Well someone's a gentleman."

Greninja scoffed. "Yeah, that's a nice way to call someone a suck up."

Lucario ignored Greninja and walked to Ruby. "I sense that you're feeling troubled Miss Rose. Is there something on your mind?"

"What?! How did you know that? Can you read minds?" Ruby awed.

Lucario smiled. "Close. I can sense aura. Yours is showing concern for something… Or someone."

"Well… I just noticed that Penny isn't here with us."

"Oh yeah she isn't!" Sun exclaimed. "I wonder where she went? She was kicking some serious butt before."

"Oh yeah I saw her leave." Kai answered. "I think she had somewhere to be."

"Oh…" Ruby whispered disappointed.

"Come on Ruby cheer up. I'm sure we'll see her again." Yang consolidated.

"Well given the size of the city and the kingdom that is a rather unlikely statement." Lucario bluntly said. "Though I suppose given how she is going to be a part of the tournament, you may have some merit in your accusation. But I would still lower your hopes, to avoid any future disappointment."

There was an awkward silence.

"A real gentleman; am I right?" Greninja exaggerated. Lucario raised a paw and surrounded it in a blue aura. "Geez that response is a little extreme isn't it?"

Lucario turned his head away. "I would not attempt that."

Everyone else turned away to see Lucario preparing to attack a now conscious Roman Torchwick who was reaching for his cane.

"All right, you got me, you got me." He repeated as he got to his feet raising his hands. "I guess this is the part where I repent my crimes and curse your names before you lock me away and throw away the key."

"We could do that." Greninja started to say. "Oor. There's a deep body of water right there and we're the only witnesses."

Everyone looked confused aside from Kai who looked away from everyone else sighing and Lucario who without looking away from Torchwick, gave a disapproving look.

"Wait!" Weiss exclaimed when she figured it out. "Are you honestly suggesting that we-?"

"Of course not! I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"Mostly." Lucario added.

"I still don't get it." Ruby said confused.

"Trust me, you don't want to." Kai explained.

Lucario suddenly went wide eyed and gaped. He quickly gained composure and closed his eyes as his appendages raised behind him.

"Huh? What is it Lucario?" Kai asked.

"No, it can't be." Lucario mumbled. "That's impossible."

 _'_ _Impossible?'_ Kai thought.

"You know it's funny Boy Scout!" Torchwick stated. Kai looked at him and took a couple steps forwards cautiously.

"What is?" Kai asked suspiciously.

"Well when I was talking about you knowing Red over there I was honestly joking."

"Yeah well, I've had a crazy couple of weeks."

"Still makes me feel almost bad for your Pokémon knowing that you replaced them."

"Oh, I wouldn't be worried about them I would be more worried about your-" Kai suddenly flinched as he realized something. Something that should have been impossible. "How did you know they were called that?"

"Well I could tell you… But I think it would be more fun for you to find out." Torchwick said as he pulled out a scroll that had recently sent a message. A loud rumbling was heard and everyone shook in place.

"What is this?" Blake asked.

"Is it an earthquake?" Ruby asked.

"No… This is something else." Weiss answered cautiously.

Lucario's eyes shot open wide. "Master! Move!"

Kai looked under him as the ground started to crack under his feet.

 _'_ _Oh crrrrrrrrrrrrrud.'_

A sudden blue blur pulled Kai out of the way when the ground under him broke apart and a large column of rock burst out of the ground. Kai stood with the others Greninja letting go of him.

"Are you alright?" Greninja asked.

"Yeah thanks." Kai replied. "We have been saying that way too much today." Kai turned to everyone else to seem them with stunned expressions. "… Am I missing something?"

Sun pointed behind Kai. "Yeah! THAT!" Kai and Greninja looked behind them and went wide eyed.

Towering in front of them was a chain of boulders that stood over twenty-eight feet tall. The top boulder pile had a rocky spine poking out and more alarmingly… A pair of eyes and a mouth. The living rock pile growled and Kai slowly and cautiously reached into his pocket.

"Please be wrong, please be wrong, please be wrong, please be wrong-" Kai chanted.

"Kai, what are doing?" Ruby asked as Greninja and Lucario looked at each other with concerned looks. Kai pulled out his Pokédex and opened it.

\- **Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. It travels through the ground at speeds of 50mph looking for it's food of large boulders, creating large tremors in the process. -**

"Wait! That things a Pokémon!" Ruby looked with white circular eyes shaking her head desperately between Onix and Kai.

" **OOOOOONIIIX!** " It screeched.

" **Greninja use Scald!** " Kai ordered. Greninja aimed his front foot at Onix and fired a stream of boiling water at it's head. As it collided Onix struggled briefly before crying out, falling over making the ground slightly shake. The pupils in it's eyes had been reduced to swirls.

"You knocked it out… In one attack." Weiss said stunned.

"Yeah Onix's look big and tough, but they have a horrific special defense and hate water so much that an effective method of beating it is to blow bubbles." Greninja explained.

"But this doesn't make sense. An Onix shouldn't be here. Any Pokémon shouldn't be here!" Kai contemplated.

"But I though you said Pokémon lived everywhere if you knew where to look." Yang contradicted.

"Well I did- bu- bu– well-"

"In case you haven't noticed Pokémon aren't exactly common in the kingdoms. Unless you've ever seen one before have you?" Lucario quickly lied.

"He does make a good point." Blake agreed. "But how did it get lured here then."

Kai sighed before adjusting his hat. "I think I know." He said seriously looking at Torchwick. "What have you done?"

"What little old me." Torchwick acted innocently. "Not a thing. My recent associates on the other hand…"

An array of light blue crescents cut through the air and attacked Kai and the others pushing them back. As they recovered they were met with an army of blue bat-like creatures with gaping mouths, eyes and purple wings.

"Not these guys!" Greninja complained.

"More Pokémon!" Blake guessed.

"Unfortunately, yes!" Kai answered as he opened his Pokédex again.

\- **Golbat, the bat Pokémon and the evolved form of Zubat. Golbat loves the blood of humans and Pokémon and can suck down over 10 ounces in one go. Once it bites, it will** **not stop draining energy from the victim even if it gets too heavy to fly. –**

"Did we really need a refresher on Golbat?! Freaking Golbat?!" Greninja shouted.

"I thought it would be good for the others to know."

"Yeah because it really helps to know that if that thing gets close it will suck out our blood like a vampire." Yang said sarcastically.

"Well now you know not to let it do that!"

"I'm afraid that this is not the worst of our problems." Lucario grimaced. "The culprits responsible for this are well known to Master."

"Wait I know them? Who are they?"

"They're-"

Lucario was interrupted by the sound of a Pokémon getting returned as Onix was turned into red light and returned to a Poké ball. The owner of said Poké ball was a man wearing a red business suit with a white shirt and a black tie. He wore red sun glasses and his hair was red and partially resembled a wisp of fire at the right.

Several more of these men arrived and were followed by similar looking women who wore the same outfit but their hair had two wisps one on the left and one on the right.

"Who are these bozo's?" Sun asked.

"Team Flare." Kai, Greninja and Lucario simultaneously whispered.

"… Who?"

Two mysterious women walked up to the group. One of the women had green hair and large green glasses. She wore a red suit and a green tie as well as red shorts and red knee-high boots.

Her companion had a similar suit with a purple tie but had purple hair neatly parted to the right. She wore a grey visor over her eyes which generated a purple light. She wore black stockings and smaller red boots as well as red shoulder pads.

"Well, well, well. How outlying." The green haired one said. "It appears that the intel was right; a Pokémon trainer did somehow make it into Remnant and one with talking Pokémon as well. The probability of that occurrence is quite small, almost impossible in fact; fascinating."

"Wow having to deal with a Pokémon trainer, that is so lame!" The purple haired one complained. "Hey Bryony doesn't that kid look familiar to you?"

"Now that you've mentioned it Celosia, I have seen this kid somewhere before."

"So, who is he?"

"I have no idea. But he's obviously not in Team Flare. Let's get him, yeah?"

"Yup. That sounds good to me."

The two girls brought out Poké balls and Kai turned to the others.

"You guys deal with the Golbat's and make sure Torchwick doesn't escape. I'll handle these two." Kai suggested.

"Do you have any advice?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah I do actually. I've briefly touched upon this but Pokémon types give them weaknesses as well as resistances and immunities. Golbat is a Flying/Poison type so use Electric, Ice and Rock type attacks. And avoid Fighting and Ground type attacks."

"They are also weak to Psychic type attacks, I believe your light clones will prove useful in your fight Sun." Lucario added.

"Really, thanks man." Sun thanked.

"Okay people get moving there's a job to do and butt to kick!" Greninja rallied.

"Alright re-united Team RWBY… And new guy. Let's do this!" Ruby cheered.

Kai and his Pokémon were left alone as the others spread out to deal with the Golbat.

"I'm gonna be honest. After going so long without Pokémon battling, I'm gonna enjoy this." Kai confessed.

"As am I." Lucario agreed.

"Guess that makes three of us." Greninja joined in.

Bryony and Celosia threw their Poké balls.

"Go Liepard!"

"Get out here Manectric!"

Out of the Poké balls came: a slender, purple feline Pokémon speckled with yellow rosettes. And a canine, quadruped Pokémon with a body that is mainly blue with a spiky, yellow mane on its head and yellow tufts of fur on its haunches and around its front feet.

Kai smiled and adjusted his hat. "Greninja! Lucario! I choose you!" The two Pokémon stepped forward and grinned. "All right let's go! **Greninja use Night Slash on Manectric! Lucario use Bone Rush on Manectric as well!** "

" **Liepard use Fake Out on Lucario!** " Bryony commanded.

" **Manectric use Quick Attack on Greninja!** " Celosia declared.

Liepard quickly jumped at Lucario and clapped her hands in his face, making him flinch and prevented him from using his attack causing him to glow with an orange aura. Manectric shot forward as a blur surrounded by a white aura leaving faint after images, managing to hit Greninja before he could move (for once) and tackled him in the gut dealing a critical hit. Greninja recovered and formed his dark blade in his front feet and slashed at Manectric with a critical hit making her whine as she skidded back.

"A critical hit on the first move! Come on!" Greninja complained.

"You just got one." Lucario pointed out.

"With a move that has an increased critical hit ratio."

"How amusing. The two Pokémon seem to be bickering with each other." Bryony commented.

"That's just who they are, I can't help it." Kai explained.

"Why are you making it sound like a bad thing?" Greninja asked.

"Regardless we're just warming up. **Greninja use Scald on Liepard!** **Lucario use Bone Rush on Manectric!** "

" **Liepard use Slash on Greninja!** " Bryony shouted.

" **Manectric use Thunderbolt on Greninja!** " Celosia decided.

Lucario jumped ahead of everyone and delivered five decisive hits against Manectric launching him against a shipping container with a bang. Manectric whined before slumping to the ground with swirling eyes.

"What?! That is so lame!" Celosia complained.

"When Liepard made Lucario flinch you activated his ability Steadfast. That gave him the speed boost he needed to make him the fastest one on the field." Kai explained.

Liepard's claws became bright yellow and extended when Greninja shoved it into the air with a geyser of steaming water. Liepard fell down with a thud, soaking wet with swirling eyes.

"And that is why cats hate water ladies and gentlemen." Greninja stated.

"That is irrelevant to our current situation. Dark types are not weak to Water type moves, the fact that Liepard is a feline had nothing to do with your victory." Lucario corrected.

"It's called a joke Lucario."

"I'm aware, it just wasn't a very good one."

Greninja frantically and over-exaggeratedly shook in place angrily, much to Kai's amusement, as Bryony and Celosia returned their Pokémon.

"Strange, fighting this boy, with these Pokémon… I'm getting the strangest sense of de ja vu." Bryony contemplated.

"Whatever! Let's just beat this guy already or else we'll both be so lame!" Celosia pouted as the two grabbed another Poké ball.

" **Bisharp go!** " Bryony called.

" **Drapion get out here!** " Celosia shouted.

Out of the Poké balls this time came: a bipedal humanoid Pokémon in red armor with a golden axe blade sticking out of its helmet like head, which bared a striking to a bishop chess piece. And a large scorpion-like Pokémon with a purple and black segmented body and a wide mouth with two fang-like features extending out of said mouth.

"Here we go again." Kai said happily. " **Greninja use Water Shuriken on Drapion! Lucario use Aura Sphere on Bisharp!** "

" **Bisharp use X-Scissor on Greninja!** " Bryony called out.

" **Drapion use Acupressure!** " Celosia instructed.

* * *

As the battle raged on between the three Pokémon trainers, everyone else was having to deal with the army of Golbats.

Ruby and Blake looked at each other and both put a cartridge into their guns that had the symbol of a lightning bolt. The two of them then started firing shots of blue electricity at the Golbat, each shot landed caused the Golbat to get surrounded by blue sparks before fainting and dropping to the ground.

"Yeah! This is how we do it!" Ruby cheered.

"But where's Torchwick?" Blake asked.

" **Golbat use Air Cutter!** " A Team Flare Grunt shouted and three Golbats wings glowed light blue.

"Watch out!" Blake warned, as three light clones of Sun jumped into the air and collided with the Golbat knocking them out before they could get their attacks off. "Huh?"

Blake and Ruby looked below them to see Sun standing there with a thumbs up.

"Don't worry I've got your backs!" Sun reassured, as a Golbat appeared behind him ready to suck his energy. "AUGH!"

An electric bullet knocked it out and Sun looked to see Blake smiling and giving Sun the same thumbs up he gave her.

"We've got more incoming!" Ruby warned.

"Right!" Blake and Sun said simultaneously.

* * *

Torchwick funnily enough was running for his freedom in a maze of shipping containers.

 _'_ _These kids just keep getting weirder.'_ He thought to himself. _'Of course, I couldn't have invited Neo, it was just a simple Dust heist no problems what so ever. You've gotta be kidding me.'_

A fiery explosion cut him off and he slowly turned around to see Yang Xiao Long standing right behind him.

"Well this is perfect." He complained.

"I've been dying for a fight recently, but since my teammate already kicked your butt once today I'm gonna be nice and offer you the chance to surrender." Yang offered.

"Sorry Goldilocks no can do. Places to go, Dust I need to steal." Torchwick answered as he pointed his cane at Yang.

Yang smirked. "I was hoping you were going to say something like that."

Yang shot herself forward and punched Torchwick in the jaw before he could even react. He swung his cane which Yang blocked with her right arm extending it to deliver a swift explosive punch to the face making Torchwick tumble back. Yang threw a left hook at Torchwick that was caught in his cane's handle, Torchwick pulled Yang's arm to the side and punched Yang when she intercepted his fist with her free hand and twisted it causing him to let her regain her left hand to land an explosive punch against his leg making him go down, as Yang delivered a right hook to his right rib making him clutch his side in pain before finishing him off with a regular, good old-fashioned punch in the face. Torchwick tumbled across the ground and landed on his back, he slowly leaned forward with a pained expression on his face.

"You people can't just let a man get away?"

Yang stood over Torchwick with a grin. "Sorry it comes with being a Huntress. And since I can't afford for you to go running off again."

Yang pulled back fist causing Torchwick brace himself as he lay on the ground. A clapping sound however interrupted her.

"Oh, ho, ho! Very impressive however I'm afraid I cannot let you hurt that man anymore."

Yang turned around to see a very, very, very pale man wearing red goggles. He had very little hair, and what he did have was red and consisted of three patches: two at his sides and the third along the center of his head, he also had a single wisp like the grunts had at the back. He wore a red suit with a red tie and wore a single blue glove on his left hand, although there was a second glove in his left pocket. He also wore red pants that had a white circle pattern around his knees and a white line that went from the circle upwards to under his suit and was wearing red shoes with white soles.

"And who are you?" Yang asked.

"My name is Xerosic and it is my pleasure to introduce myself as one of Team Flare's five scientists." He introduced. "However, I am afraid that I have been given orders to return Mr Torchwick immediately."

"Yeah, not gonna happen. You want him, you've gotta get through me."

"Ah, a battle! Well unfortunately for me I am lacking in the physical department, but right now you my dear are the perfect test subject for my latest experiment."

"Experiment?"

Xerosic brought out a Poké ball and summoned a Pokémon. It was a dark-purple squid-like Pokémon, it had a pair of fins on the bottom of its body that functioned as its legs and its main body had six light-yellow spots on the front and back and a light-yellow stripe nearly wrapping around its body above the spots. Its arm-like tendrils are scythe-like in appearance and are very sharp. It also has a red beak, half closed eyes with black sclera, yellow irises and wavy 'hair' made of eight tentacles.

"Yes, my dear. I am aware that Huntresses such as yourself have a protective aura, now this can protect you from physical and special moves obviously… But what about status moves I wonder?"

"You've been talking long enough!" Yang shot herself forward and hit the Pokémon with an explosive punch.

"Grab her Malamar." Xerosic insisted calmly.

Malamar wrapped it's two tentacles around Yang's waist and held her close.

"What the-?"

"Please my dear, remain calm. This experiment shouldn't take too long. **Malamar use Hypnosis!** "

Malamar generated a continuous stream of yellow rings at Yang point blank range making it impossible for her to dodge. Yang was initially confused until she started feeling weak and drained, her eyes grew heavy, she began to yawn and she started falling to sleep.

"N- No!" Yang resisted. "I- I can't let you… Let you- you- you… You… Y…" Yang's eyes closed and she relaxed entering a deep sleep.

"Yes! Yes! Ooh! The experiment was a complete success!" Xerosic celebrated as Torchwick slowly got himself up.

"Ugh, I'm gonna be feeling this for a week." He complained as he stretched. "Well let's go chop- chop. You do have a way out right?"

"Of course, I do. I was just hoping to experiment more! This world has so many new discoveries to be made with its relationship with Pokémon."

"Look Point Dexter that's great and all but right now I think we should focus on not getting arrested!"

Xerosic sighed. "Fine."

* * *

Several Golbats were flying nearby when snowflake glyphs appeared in the middle of the sky and shot icicles at them, taking them down in one hit. Weiss was taking down Golbats at a record pace, with her being the ' _ice queen_ ' she had a clear advantage over them. With a swing of her sword a trio of Golbats were knocked out by super effective ice attacks and returned leaving the grunts to run away in fear. Weiss looked around her and gave a sigh of relief.

 _'_ _I think that's the last of them.'_ She thought.

She heard a loud clang and moved closer to it to see Kai's continuing battle. Lucario was using Power-Up Punch with his right fist and delivered a super effective blow to Drapion knocking it out, leaving Kai the victor.

"Oh my, oh my?" Bryony questioned.

"Ah ha ha ha! You beat us good. Wow, we are sooo lame _._ " Celosia chuckled.

Kai pulled back his fist triumphantly and Lucario and Greninja high-fived.

"Way to go team!" Kai complemented.

"Kai!" Weiss called out. Everyone turned to see Weiss running towards them.

"Miss Schnee. Were you successful in dispatching the Golbat?" Lucario asked.

"Of course, what did you expect?" She replied smugly.

They were soon met with Ruby, Blake and Sun who all ran over to them.

"Hey guys, miss us?" Sun asked rhetorically.

"We beat the Pokémon but we haven't seen Torchwick at all." Blake stated despondently.

"And Yang's gone missing too." Ruby added.

"I'm sure Yang's fine, she's probably the one that found Torchwick." Kai reasoned. "She'll probably be here with him knocked out any moment."

"Well you're close."

Everyone heard an uncomfortably familiar voice and looked to see Torchwick standing away from them looking a little more worse for wear.

"Yeah pal word of advice when people want to beat you up, it may not be the brightest idea to just give us your location like that." Greninja taunted as everyone got ready to attack him. "But hey, we'll take it."

"I wouldn't if I were you." Torchwick warned.

"And why's that?" Kai asked.

Torchwick pointed up and everyone looked in horror to see Yang floating helplessly in the air with her eyes closed surrounded by a pink energy.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled in a panic.

"Let her down!" Kai commanded.

"Sorry Boy Scout not my call. You're gonna have to ask him."

The sound of footsteps warned the group to Xerosic as he blissfully walked up to them along with Malamar who had pink glowing eyes.

"Xerosic." Kai hissed as everyone focused their attention and attacks on him.

"Yes, yes! That youthful energy and resolve to save your friend it's truly remarkable!" Xerosic complemented.

"If you've hurt her-!" Blake said with hatred.

"Now, now she's only sleeping. But if you insist to get in my way…" Xerosic snapped his fingers and a crescent blade of psychic energy formed right by Yang's throat. Ruby gasped in horror and dropped her weapon clutching her mouth. Kai clenched his fists breathing in and out continuously, Greninja and Lucario glared at Xerosic in anger, and everyone else gasped before lowering their weapons. "I must say aura is fascinating really. A passive form of protection however the user must will it to activate. So, in an incapacitated state such as this… Well why don't we find out what happens?"

" **NOOO!** " Ruby screamed as everyone else looked at her in concern.

"Ruby-" Weiss started to say.

"We'll let you go! Just don't hurt my sister!" Ruby begged. Kai stopped breathing and felt his fists tighten.

"Fascinating how one's comradery and love can be turned from one's greatest strength into their greatest weakness in a mere instant." Xerosic evaluated. "Very well, I shall let her go in a moment." Xerosic pulled out a communicator. "All Team Flare Grunts report to me immediately, prepare for immediate evacuation." Very soon Team Flare grunts started to slowly join them, as the wait and anticipation was killing everyone.

"Can we really trust him?" Sun whispered.

"Absolutely not." Kai answered immediately.

"Then why are we going along with this?"

"Because we don't have a choice." Lucario answered.

Blake looked down in sorrow. "I'm so sorry everyone."

Ruby turned to Blake. "Why are you apologizing Blake you have nothing to be sorry for."

"Except it's my fault this is happening. If I didn't want to prove the White Fang's innocence, if I didn't run away then we wouldn't be here and Yang's life wouldn't be in-"

"Stop that!" Weiss interrupted. "This isn't your fault, it's nobody's fault here. The only people responsible for putting us in this situation right now are this… Team Flare over there. Nobody else!"

"Miss Schnee is right." Lucario agreed. "Panicking and blaming ourselves in this scenario will accomplish nothing and make things worse. We just need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"… Yeah." Blake agreed.

"Oh ho ho!" Xerosic shouted. "Could it, could it be! Yes! Yes, I think it is!" Xerosic pointed at Kai. "You, yes you there boy! You are Kai Emblem I am certain of it!"

"What?! That's him, that's so lame!" Celosia screeched.

"The probability of meeting him again here was supposed to be impossible!" Bryony stated.

"Okay I know we didn't ask before but Kai; who are these people and why do they know you?" Weiss asked.

Kai sighed and looked down. "Team Flare was an organization that tried to destroy the world three years ago… And I stopped them."

"You can't be serious?!"

"You did? Cool!" Sun appreciated.

"Yes, while it was a major set back for you to stop us then: we've had three years to rebuild and now we have returned, ready to purge the world of ugliness!" Xerosic stated.

A Team Flare grunt ran up to Xerosic and posed. "Sir, all Team Flare members have been rounded up successfully sir!"

"Splendid! Now who here has our transport?"

Another grunt stepped forward and threw a Poké ball. Out of it came a yellow and brown Pokémon with closed eyes, levitating off the ground.

"Of course, they used an Abra. That explains how they got here so fast." Kai realized.

"Why? What can that do?" Blake asked.

"Abra are infamous for knowing a move called Teleport. In battle it's useless but outside of battle… It can take people almost anywhere in an instant."

"Yeah and it makes it a total pain to catch." Greninja added hoping to bring some levity to the situation. He failed.

"All right! You can leave, just let Yang down now!" Ruby pleaded.

"Hm? Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that." Xerosic responded. "No, you see she's much to valuable! Just imagine the experiments that I can perform on her! No, it would be a waste to just let her go."

"YOU CAN'T! YOU PROMISED!"

"My dear discoveries cannot be sacrificed for something as insignificant as a promise. Now then if you would."

The grunt nodded. " **Abra use Teleport!** "

" **DON'T!** "

" **Water Shuriken!** "

Two water shuriken's suddenly cut Malamar making him lose focus and letting Yang drop. In that moment Greninja jumped in and grabbed Yang before jumping through the grunts."

"No! Wait!" Xerosic pleaded, then disappeared in a pink flash. Torchwick, Team Flare, some lucky members of the White Fang and some nearby Dust containers… Gone.

Everyone else who remained could hardly breathe, so much had happened in a second and they were just registering it. Greninja landed as he held Yang asleep in his front feet and he exhaled heavily.

"Phew. Ho boy." He panted then nervously laughed. "That was way too close." He looked behind to see everyone else looking at him. Greninja blinked twice nervously before placing Yang gently on the ground. "Did everybody see that? Because I will NOT! Be doing that again!"

A red rush of petals rushed up to Greninja and Ruby grabbed hold of him in a tight embrace.

"You saved her. You saved my sister." Ruby sniffled as her eyes went misty.

Greninja hesitated before wrapping his front legs around Ruby. "Well… You know…" Greninja said awkwardly. "It was nothing really, just being a pal and you know… All that jazz." Everyone else caught up with Ruby and Greninja, and Lucario stepped forward. "Stop. Stop. I already know what you're gonna say." Greninja cleared his throat. "Oh, Greninja that was stupid. That was dangerous. You could have gotten yourself captured along with Miss Xiao Long, what would Master have done then. You are sooo immature, I cannot believe I'm your brother, I would have done it better." Greninja said in a mocking voice.

Lucario smiled. "You are truly incredible Greninja. In a moment of terror and confusion when no one else could act you selflessly risked your own being to save someone, not through strategy but through pure instinct and action. You weren't just being reckless that time Greninja, you were being a hero."

Greninja stood there silent. "Huh. Well great now you make me feel like a jerk for making fun of you, are you happy now!"

"For the love of Arceus Greninja take the compliment!" Lucario mimicked getting a smile out of Greninja.

Kai walked up to Greninja and Ruby let go so the two could talk. "I am so proud of you Greninja. More than words can even say."

"Except that Lucario just gave me a rousing speech that is going to keep me on a high for a week, so right now you sound like you're being lazy."

"I'm serious, I'm speechless. We all were, so just… Thank you."

Greninja put his front feet to his hips. "See that! A thank you! Not even Ruby gave me that and I just saved her sister. You all could learn a thing or two from my Master, there is a reason why I don't just fly solo."

Yang started groaning and woke up, getting up slowly. "What happened? Last thing I remember some squid thing had a hold of me and then-"

Ruby ran up and hugged Yang tight. "I'm so glad you're all right! I love you so much!"

Yang hesitated slightly confused before hugging Ruby back. "I love you too Ruby."

Everyone around huddled together in this moment of love after an almost tragic moment. Weiss and Blake looked at each other having put the past behind them and becoming closer together as friends as a result of it. Greninja was admiring his own ego now that his high was taking over and Lucario turned away to chuckle without anyone noticing. Sun turned to Kai and offered to fist bump, which Kai acted hesitant towards before finally doing it awkwardly. The moment was short-lived however as the sound of police sirens started echoing closer towards them.

"Oh shoot! It's the fuzz!" Greninja shouted.

Lucario sighed. "I believe that the moment has just been broken."

"I guess we have a lot of explaining to do." Kai assumed.

"Probably." Weiss agreed.

"And I'm not going to finish my book today am I?"

"I wouldn't count on it Master." Lucario answered.

Kai sighed and smiled returning his two Pokémon. The remaining teenagers decided to sit down on some nearby wooden crates to answer any questions the police may have and they sat there talking like old friends.

* * *

Elsewhere a man had a black scroll in his hands closing a live feed of what had just transpired at the docks. As he did a message came up.

 **Qrow: The queen has pawns.**

Ozpin hummed to himself in thought.

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

 **-Night time, City of Vale-**

Crickets chirped in the night air as Roman Torchwick walked into a storage building carrying a box in his left hand and his signature cane in the right. He placed the box on a table inside and gave a heavy sigh.

"How very disappointing, Roman."

"Woah! Haha…" Torchwick turned around in surprise. "Wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon."

Three individuals were standing just inside of the building. Two were obstructed by shadows making them difficult to view properly but the middle one had just enough light to show their face. They were a girl with light skin, one of her eyes was bright amber while the other was covered by her long ashen-black hair.

"We were expecting… More from you." The woman judged.

Roman laughed nervously. "Hey you were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang."

The girl snickered. "And you will continue to do so."

"And what about those Team Flare weirdos. What good were they?"

"If I recall weren't they the ones that saved you after your plan was thwarted by the likes of mere Huntsman in training."

Torchwick stepped forward. "About that. These Huntsman, one of them is a kid that uses Pokémon. Care to explain that delightful mix-up."

The girl put her finger to her lips and shushed Torchwick. "Calm down, calm down. Team Flare has had experience with this individual before, they'll give us all the information we need about him to determine if he is a suitable threat and if he is… We'll eliminate him."

"Yeah well… I still don't like any of this. You should just let me do things my way."

The girl held out her palm and created a flame that lightly lit the room revealing the other silhouettes to be a young woman with light, mint-green hair, dark-red eyes and medium-brown skin. And a young man with slicked back silvery-grey hair, pale skin and grey eyes.

"We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is a little co-operation."

* * *

 **So how was that?! I don't kid around when I said you didn't want to miss this.**

 **But first, let's address the future of this story. Just under 13 weeks ago I did two things. I finished writing this chapter, and I published the prologue. Each week I have been posting a chapter one at a time so that my loyal followers wouldn't have to wait long hiatus' for more content, and in case I ran out of steam there would be a large amount to read over. So what am I going to do...**

 **To quote myself from the prologue: ' _This may become a hit and I'll start writing again while I'm posting.'_**

 **I may have written... A couple chapters.**

 **(Average reader: "Well how many?")**

 **... Y- You know... A- A few... A good amount...**

 **("How many?")**

 **... Fifteen.**

 **(WHAT?!) (You've been holding out on us!) (Why didn't you post more?) (Do you have no life?!) (... at least you're not discontinuing the story...)**

 **Okay people settle down! Let me just summarise what I'm gonna do okay? Okay! While I'm unsure if this story has really become a "hit", I have been writing more chapters because I enjoyed doing it. So for you loyal readers nothing is going to change. Uploads will continue as normal, and will continue as long as I have chapters to post, if I end up going on hiatus that would be the reason (or something personal).**

 **But enough about that. Next week we start a new original arc which I have called the 'Remedial Lesson Arc'**

 **So until then, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	14. Chapter 13: The day things almost ended

**Hello folks, and welcome back. This chapter is going to be a lot more Pokémon centric than RWBY so keep that in mind when reading, I also originally planned this as a big finale or opener so you'll notice the stakes are quite a bit higher. As for the questions:**

 **Guest:** **Just wait.**

 **Guest: I already answered this in Chapter 3's question area. But to repeat again: no I will not be giving the RWBY characters Pokémon in this story. Sorry if that disappoints you.**

* * *

 **-Night Time, City of Vale-**

After the events of the day that had just transpired, most people would have wanted to just take a nap. And Kai was doing just that… In the wrong place. Kai had his eyes closed and his fedora on his chest as slept peacefully on a chair just outside of a police questioning room.

"… U- U- Use draaaa- gaaa… Puuh…" Kai murmured in his sleep, a crossed pair of fingers hovered above his head before snapping, flicking Kai awake. "GAH! USE DRA-!" Kai shouted when he remembered where he was.

"He wants to see you now." A familiar voice told Kai as he rubbed his forehead.

"You know Blake, I was having a pretty great dream there."

"Sorry, but you can sleep when we get home."

"Yeah, yeah. Did he say anything to you that should worry me?"

Blake turned away and started walking off. "Just be careful what you say. And don't say too much."

"Keep my big mouth shut. Got it." Kai replied as he walked through the door.

The room was small and dark with a single window on one of the walls showing Remnants moon. A single light shone down on a white table in the middle of the room and two chairs opposite to each other. The furthest one was vacant but the closest one had Ozpin sitting in it.

"Good evening Kai. I hope that your rest out there has made you energetic enough to answer my questions." Ozpin said kindly.

"Yeah sure. But if I can just ask one first…" Kai responded as he sat down in the empty chair. "Why exactly did you only ask me and Blake to stay here, and everyone got to go back home… To sleep. We all went through the process, we've explained everything, we answered the police's questions, and it's been hours."

"I understand, and I thank you for being so co-operative tonight but the questions I've needed to ask you and Blake are more… Personal."

"Let me guess, you want to ask me about Team Flare, right?" Ozpin didn't answer and took a sip of coffee from his mug. "What would you like to know about them?"

Ozpin put his mug down. "Everything would be a good place to start."

Kai sighed and relaxed back in his chair. "Team Flare was a criminal organization designed on one goal… The preservation of beauty in the world."

"And how exactly did they plan to do that?"

Kai looked down seriously as he began to remember his past. "… With a device in my world known as the ultimate weapon."

"The ultimate weapon?" Ozpin repeated and Kai nodded silently.

"A terribly long time ago… There was a man and a Pokémon. He loved that Pokémon very much. A war began. The man's beloved Pokémon took part in the war. Several years passed. He was given a tiny box. The man wanted to bring the Pokémon back. No matter what it took. The man built a machine to give it life. He brought his beloved Pokémon back. The man had suffered too much. His rage had not subsided. He could not forgive the world that had hurt the Pokémon he loved. He turned the machine into the ultimate weapon. The man became a bringer of destruction that ended the war. The Pokémon that was given life must have known… That the lives of many Pokémon were taken to restore its life. The resurrected Pokémon left the man. And he wandered alone for three-thousand years… Until I defeated Team Flare, destroyed the ultimate weapon for good and helped him find peace, and when he did the Pokémon that left him so long ago finally returned to him." Kai wiped his eyes with his sleeve and sniffed. "Sorry I got a bit side-tracked there."

"It's fine. The information you have given me so far has been very helpful." Ozpin explained. "But back on the subject of Team Flare. Can you tell me who was running the operation?"

Kai looked Ozpin in the eye. "A man called Lysandre. He was the one who ran Team Flare."

"He ' _was_ ' the one who ' _ran_ ' them." Ozpin picked up on.

"Yeah ' _was_ '. He was a brilliant man, he owned his own tech company and focused his profits on making the world a better place… But I guess making the world a better place means you have to keep seeing it's darkest parts."

"What happened to him?"

"What do you think?" Kai stretched in place and thought in silence for a moment, Ozpin gave him time and took another drink from his mug. When he placed it down Kai started talking again. "I think that it would be better… If I just tell you what happened that day… The day that I took down Team Flare."

"Are you sure? You seem quite distressed about it?"

"… Yeah. Yeah I'm sure."

"Then please proceed."

"Well where to begin? I had just acquired my seventh gym badge and my team only comprised of five Pokémon back then. I was about to head out of the city when…

* * *

 **3 Years ago…**

 **-Afternoon, Anistar City-**

 _Kai was about to head out of the gate into route 18 when he felt a buzz go off in his pocket. He reached and grabbed a small green device which had a blinking blue light._

 _'_ _My Holo Caster? Is there an announcement or something?' Kai thought, as a tinted-blue holographic image of a man popped up._

 _The man was pale had very spiky orange hair that looked like a lions' mane (or Pyroar's if you prefer)_ _connected to his beard. He wore a black suit, lined in red and a pair of black fingerless gloves._

 _'_ _Lysandre? Oh, this might be an announcement from his company or-'_

 _"_ _Pokémon Trainers." Lysandre started to say. "I come to you by the Holo Caster to make an important announcement. Listen well. Team Flare will revive the ultimate weapon, eliminate everyone who isn't in our group, and return the world to a beautiful, natural state. Unproductive fools are consuming our future... If nothing changes, the world will become ugly and conflicts will raze the land from end to end. I repeat. We will use the ultimate weapon and wipe the slate clean. I'm sorry, those of you who are not members of Team Flare, but this is adieu to you all_." _Lysandre then disappeared._

 _Kai was left silent as people in the streets who heard the same message began murmuring and panicking._

 _"_ _What?" Kai murmured in disbelief. "This… This can't be real…"_

* * *

"But it was oh too real." Kai elaborated in present day. "I first headed back to Lumiose city where I went to Lysandre's private café only for my worries to be confirmed near instantly. I battled my way through Lysandre labs battling every grunt, admin and even some of those scientists that were here today. I learnt the tragic story about the ultimate weapon from a giant called AZ, Lysandre left me alone with Xerosic, the same man that took Yang captive and then…"

* * *

 _Malamar fell to the ground knocked out. Floating in front of him were a pair of joined floating swords with a single pink eye each, and pink tassel arms wrapped around a shared sheath._

 _"_ _Way to go Doublade! I knew you could do it!" Kai cheered._

 _"_ _Doublade!" The sword Pokémon sheathed itself and cried in appreciation, before Kai returned her._

 _"_ _Oh ho ho! You're wonderful! Your Pokémon are amazing!" Xerosic complimented._

 _Kai smirked. "You don't need to tell me that, sorry to say but your plans to destroy the world are cancelled."_

 _"_ _Wonderful! Amazing! You have tremendous skill and bravery! When you add that up, it means I will tell you something very interesting. It happened 3,000 years ago. The ultimate weapon was used to put an end to the war in an instant. If we use that incredible power, we can finally free Kalos of the foolish humans that plague it! Behind me you'll find a red button and a blue button. One of them is the button for activating the ultimate weapon. Push one now! Come on! Push one!" Xerosic gestured to the two buttons on a wall behind him._

 _"_ _So, we're putting the fate of the world on my gut instinct… Yeah we're doomed." Kai spent a good few minutes pacing around the room in deep thought before putting his hands on his head hard in annoyance. "Aah! I can't pick the stakes are too high!"_

 _"_ _Please take all the time in the world, there might not be much left after your choice."_

 _"_ _YOU'RE NOT HELPING! SHUT UP! I need a second opinion I- wait!" Kai grabbed his Poké balls threw them up into the air releasing his five Pokémon: Greninja, Talonflame, Doublade, Slurpuff and Lucario. "Okay guys I don't know how much you heard but right now we have a fifty-fifty shot at either saving or dooming the world. I need your advice."_

 _"…_ _Slur! Slurpuff!"_

 _"_ _Lucario car car car!"_

 _"_ _Talonflame! Talon Talon flame flame!_

 _"_ _Dou! Blade blade Dou!"_

 _Kai sighed and fell to his knees. "If only you could speak English. Wait! Where's Grenin-"_

 _A loud thunk came from the end of the room and Kai's Pokémon all gasped. Kai slowly turned to see Greninja with his front foot on the blue button._

 _"_ _Gren?" Greninja asked._

 _"…_ _Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…" A high-pitched trailing sound was all Kai could muster._

 _"_ _Lucar car cario!" Lucario critiqued._

 _"_ _Gre Greninja Greninja." Greninja argued._

 _"_ _You pressed it! Oh ho ho! You pressed the blue switch! Winner, winner! Congratulations! But I'm still going to activate the ultimate weapon! I know the boss promised that we wouldn't if you pushed the correct button, but I refuse to let the potential go to waste! I'll just use my remote, here! Click- click! And the power is ON!_ "

 _Kai suddenly shot up. "_ _ **YOU CAN'T DO THIS!**_ _"_

 _"_ _Come on! Look! Look at the monitor!" Xerosic pointed to a screen at the end of the room, Kai and his Pokémon watching it in horror._

 _It showed a live-feed of a small town made up of a few log cabins surrounded by grass and a small wall of rocks. In the centre of the town were three tall stones on a patch of dirt. These stones shook and rose before sinking into the ground. Moments later a dirt tipped crystal erupted out of the earth. It rose high into the air as it was connected to a pedestal and wires heading deep into the ground. The crystals sides extended outwards making it bloom like a flower, and the inside contained a sharp crystal that released a bright blue and red light before the sides folded completely outwards knocking the houses over as the light dimmed down to leave a blue and red glowing crystal in the middle of the weapon._

 _"…_ _Oh no." Kai whispered in horror._

* * *

"It was a dire situation. Even though Greninja actually would have saved the world, the weapon was still activated. We had… Maybe less than an hour left, there was no time left for anyone to do anything. But that didn't stop me from trying! I flew on Talonflame to the weapon's location bust down the doors on Team Flares hidden base and beat every grunt that dared stand in my way! But when I made it to the weapons core…"

* * *

 _A very dark room with tinted red light was empty without a soul; a single red metal door with Team Flare's logo blocking the outside world. A blue light sliced through said door making it quite naturally explode, out of the explosion Kai and Greninja walked in._

 _"_ _Thanks for that buddy." Kai thanked._

 _"_ _Ja." Greninja replied._

 _The two looked on to see the machine's core which looked more like an altar. Wires and red lights were coming off it and on this alter was a round grey cocoon with white extrusion like tree branches coming out of it._

 _"_ _It's kind of hard to breathe in here isn't it?" Kai whispered as he stared in awe. "I have no idea if this is a good idea, but it's the best that I've got. Are you ready Greninja?"_

 _"_ _Ja!" Greninja answered confidently._

 _"_ _Aim for the core and use-!"_

 _"_ _ **Rrrrrrh!**_ _" A loud roar interrupted the two and made them both walk back until they were against the wall of the room. Reinforced shielding slammed down behind them blocking their only escape as the cocoon… Began to shake and glow. A bright light burst from the cocoon forcing Kai and Greninja to shield their eyes. When they opened them, an immense fear spread through their very souls like wildfire._

 _Two titans stood in place of the cocoon. One was a_ _blue and black, quadrupedal, stag-like cervine Pokémon with an eight-horned set of antlers extending out from its head, four on each side. The second was a large Pokémon with avian and draconic traits. Its body was dark in coloration and was adorned with grayish patterns along the underside. Its wings had three spikes on each extending along the bottom edges, close to where they meet the body. There were five large claws on each appendage, three of which curved inwards. Its underside was bright red, with branching, black markings and similar markings were present on its head and neck._

 _"_ _Xerneas… Yveltal… They really do exist…" Kai awed in shock._

 _"_ _Grenin… Ja…" Greninja admired._

 _They broke free of the weapon and Yveltals body glowed with a red aura as it flew into the air, Xerneas jumped down onto the floor it's horns glowing bright yellow with orange, red, purple, and teal blue twining glowing on its horns._

 _Kai was physically trembling. His lip quivered and he was hyperventilating at an alarming rate. His eyes were red and spawning a myriad of tears that trailed off his face._

 _'_ _They're real! They're real and they're here! I didn't want to believe it before- but this is it! THIS IS WHERE I DIE!_ _ **THIS IS WHERE EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE DIES! THIS IS THE END!**_ _' Kai thought desperately._

 _"_ _I- I- I- I- Kai managed to sputter. "I- I don't want to die."_

 _The two legendries cried out, Kai pre-emptively covered his face with his arms, a crash boomed in the room, wind forced Kai into the air before making him land onto the ground with a thud. Kai groaned and looked ahead where he gawked going wide eyed. In front of him Xerneas and Yveltal had locked heads. They were fighting._

 _"_ _I-" Kai tried to say but the words got lost in his throat as he breathed heavily. He saw his fedora ahead of him on the floor, he felt the urge to grab it and he started crawling towards it as Xerneas and Yveltal broke apart. Xerneas made the floor snap apart as it skidded and Yveltal made harsh winds fly as it was forced into the air. Xerneas looked down at the ground then jerked it's head upwards generating a dark blue and yellow energy wave that instantly spread out, Yveltal was forced to the ground in an instant, and Kai was forced flat onto his stomach._

 _'_ _It's using Gravity! I don't think I can move! SOMEONE HELP ME!'_

 _Yveltal growled and snarled releasing a dark energy that spread out. Xerneas took the hit but shook it off easily as a blue aura fell on it's body. The energy travelled across the room and Kai braced himself._

 _'_ _This is it! I don't want this to be the end!' Kai closed his eyes and waited feeling a negative force brush around his sides before stopping. Kai slowly realised he was unharmed and opened his eyes._

 _"_ _Gre- Greninja?" Kai murmured when Greninja stood in front of Kai taking the hit. "Greninja…"_

 _Greninja turned around to face Kai and he held Kai's fedora in his front feet. Kai suddenly snapped awake and felt all his negativity starting to fade away._

 _'_ _Greninja protected me…' Kai started forcing himself onto his knees. 'Now what sort of trainer would I be…' Kai put his right foot forward and used it as leverage to push himself up. 'IF I COULDN'T RETURN THE FAVOUR!'_ Kai snatched the hat out of Greninja's feet and placed it on his head.

 _"_ _Heh. Thanks for that buddy." Kai was visibly shaking; the enhanced gravity was still in effect making it difficult to stand, but he wasn't scared anymore. "Sorry about that, my emotions got the best of me. But as for right now." Kai focused on Xerneas and Yveltal. Yveltal pulled its wings forward charging a ball of red light in front of itself before firing a laser at Xerneas. Xerneas was glowing light pink and recoiled from the damage and Yveltal had a green aura over itself healing some of it's damage. Xerneas then exploded with a rainbow of colours as an orange aura enveloped its body. "We've got a job to do!"_

 _"_ _Greninja!" Greninja agreed._

 _"_ _Now as great as we are I doubt we could beat both of them, buuut we may not have to. Just get me in close. I'll do the rest."_

 _Xerneas' horns glowed bright white with a faint orange outline and it charged straight at Yveltal pinning it into a wall making it screech. Yveltal looked directly at Xerneas and its eyes glowed yellow, Xerneas was surrounded in a psychic trap and it lowered its head closing its eyes, its horns returning to normal. Xerneas formed a ball of pink energy in front of its face and Yveltal formed a red ball of energy. A rushing sloshing sound echoed in the room interrupting Xerneas and Yveltal when a giant tidal wave headed towards them. Greninja was riding on top with Kai wrapping his arms around him, the wave crashed into the legendries forcing them away as Kai jumped off the wave. In his right hand was a Poké ball with a purple top, two red ovals at the sides of the top and a white 'M' in the centre of the purple._

 _"_ _ **GO MASTER BALL!**_ _" Kai screamed throwing the ball with maximum effort. It collided against Xerneas' snout with a smack before knocking itself back in the air and opening. Xerneas' body became orange energy surrounded by purple sparkles getting sucked into the ball. The ball bounced on the ground and shook three times on the spot before stopping with a click, stars appearing._ _Kai picked it up nervously in his trembling hand. "W- We did it… HOLY MOTHER OF ARCEUS! GRENINJA WE JUST CAPTURED A LEGENDARY!"_

 _"_ _ **Rrrrrrh!**_ _" Yveltal roared as it started flapping its wings with extreme force, managing to fly into the air. Some of the wires were damaged and released energy into the room, combining with Yveltal's dark aura to create an atmosphere of darkness not too different from outer space._

 _"_ _One down, one to go." Greninja jumped down to Kai's side and nodded. "There's no way we can catch that thing with regular Poké balls so… Brute force it is!_ _ **Greninja use Surf!**_ _"_

 _Greninja summoned a wave beneath his bottom feet that rose high into the air colliding with Yveltal. Yveltal snarled attacking Greninja with dark energy making a blue aura trail down him._

 _"_ _That's Snarl, guess that means special attacks are out of the window. Greninja resists it but it still did more than normal, is Yveltal that strong?" Kai looked at his dark environment and felt goose bumps. "No! It's this dark aura that strengthens its attacks." Kai smirked. "Time to use its own strength against him._ _ **Greninja use Night Slash!**_ _"_

 _Greninja formed a dark blade in his front feet and stabbed it into Yveltal before twisting it and pulling it quickly upward dealing a critical hit. Yveltal growled and flew into the air pulling back its wings and shooting its red laser, Greninja braced himself as the attack hit._

 _"_ _Greninja!" Kai shouted. When the attack settled Greninja raised his right front foot into the air. He pulled two of his webbed toes back and left the leftmost one up making it look like he was giving a thumb up. Kai smiled softly as Greninja toppled onto his side. "GRENINJA!" Kai rushed over to his friends' side and turned him over, his white pupils were white swirls as he lay there knocked out. "Greninja… You did so much for me… Thank you…" Kai returned him to his Poké ball as Yveltal loomed over him, a green aura healing the wounds Greninja dealt. "I've heard about you, you know. That move you just used, it's called Oblivion Wing. It lets you drain the life of your opponent, letting you deal damage while draining their life to heal yourself."_

 _"_ _ **Rrrrrrh!**_ _" Yveltal roared, Kai not even flinching._

 _"_ _I'm telling you this because I know who you are. But I'm still gonna fight you, and I will win. Because this is bigger than you or me Yveltal. THIS IS ABOUT PROTECTING EVERY LIVING THING OUT THERE! As long as you're here you could power the ultimate weapon and I won't let that happen!" Kai threw another Poké ball. "Slurpuff, it's your time to shine!"_

 _Slurpuff appeared from her Poké ball. "Puff!" She said seriously._

 _Yveltal shrouded its wings in dark energy and lifted them violently releasing a dark pulse of energy at Slurpuff who braced it like a champ._

 _"_ _That was Dark Pulse." Kai groaned as he felt the force from the attack trying to push him back. "_ _ **Slurpuff use Dazzling Gleam!**_ _" Slurpuff thrusted her arms to the side generating a bright pink light that filled the room and forced Yveltal back._

 _"_ _Yes, a super effective hit!_ _ **Slurpuff use Dazzling Gleam again!**_ _" Slurpuff thrusted her arms back and Yveltal stared at her with glowing yellow eyes trapping her in a psychic cage. "Oh no disable!" Yveltal used Dark Pulse again, Slurpuff stayed in place but was uncomfortable getting chipped away at. "_ _ **Slurpuff use Energy Ball!**_ _Try to lower its special defence!"_

 _"_ _Sluurrr…" Slurpuff moaned silently as she tried to recover from the attack._

 _"_ _A flinch! Now at all times!" Yveltal used Oblivion Wing attacking the defenceless Slurpuff, when it hit Kai was forced back from the knockback. Kai panted in place and returned a knocked out Slurpuff. "Good job Slurpuff you did plenty, now get some rest."_

 _Kai felt drained, he could feel the energy leaving him._

 _'_ _This isn't good. Just being in Yveltal's presence is draining my life, let alone any side-effects from its attacks.'_

 _Kai threw another Poké ball. "Doublade! This is your moment!"_

 _"_ _Doublade Dou!" Doublade greeted as she unsheathed herself._

 _"_ _Doublade we need to wear Yveltal down. This is going to be difficult but I need you to hold on okay?" Kai asked and Doublade nodded." Yveltal used Dark Pulse sending a wave of energy at Doublade. "Now Doublade!_ _ **Use Protect!**_ _" Doublade sheathed herself creating a blue dome of energy to block the attack. "Great!_ _ **Now keep using Protect!**_ _"_

 _Yveltal used Dark Pulse again only for it to be blocked by Protect. Then it did it again to be met by the same result._

 _'_ _All right, no more blocking, this is it.'_

 _"_ _ **Doublade use Slash!**_ _" Doublade unsheathed itself as Yveltal used Snarl, the attack landed and Kai braced himself as he felt his feet skid. A loud clang signalled what he feared, Doublade getting knocked out by the super effective attack. Kai returned her and sighed. "I'm so sorry Doublade, you did great. It just wasn't a good type matchup for you this time."_

 _Kai suddenly lurched closer to the ground, while before was uncomfortable, now it really was difficult to breath. He started trembling in panic, until he felt his remaining two Poké balls shake on his belt cheering him on. He controlled his breathing and tightened his left fist as he threw his penultimate Poké ball. "Talonflame I need you!"_

 _"_ _Talonflaaaaame!" Talonflame cried out as he flew to Yveltals level._

 _"_ _ **Talonflame use Flame Charge!**_ _" Kai commanded. Talonflame burst into flames and rushed at Yveltal tackling him and escaping in seconds. Yveltal used Snarl, Talonflame avoided it with his aerial mobility. "_ _ **Now use Acrobatics!**_ _" Talonflame accelerated in an instant and bombarded Yveltal from every angle with powerful hits. Yveltal used disable blocking out Acrobatics as Talonflame made his escape._

 _'_ _Come on Talonflame. Come on.' Kai chanted in thought._

 _"_ _ **Flame Charge!**_ _"_

 _"_ _Taaaloon!" Talonflame attacked Yveltal again from the side Yveltal countering with Dark Pulse knocking Talonflame away._

 _"_ _Fly into the air to avoid its next attack." Talonflame obeyed and flew high into the air avoiding Snarl. "_ _ **Now use Fly!**_ _" Talonflame cloaked in a blue aura bombarded Yveltal with everything he had landing directly on its head. "All right Talonflame!"_

 _"_ _Talon." Talonflame looked to his master proudly unaware to Yveltal rising behind him._

 _"_ _LOOK OUT!" Kai warned. Talonflame turned around too late suffering a point-blank Oblivion Wing forcing him to the ground. Kai fell to his knees when Talonflame hit and his eyes grew misty when he saw him knocked out. "No… A critical hit… Talonflame…" Kai returned Talonflame and rubbed his eyes. He adjusted his hat and stared seriously at his final Poké ball. "It's all on us. Everything that our family has given, the fate of the world rests on our shoulders. I never understood why you chose me that day, but I'm glad you did. Either way as soon as you come out- YOU BETTER NOT HOLD ANYTHING BACK!" Kai threw the ball high into the air with everything he had. "_ _ **GO LUCARIO!**_ _"_

 _The Poké ball exploded into light and Lucario fell on his front toes with two paws glowing with aura. "_ _ **LUCARIO!**_ _" He shouted._

 _Kai turned to Yveltal one final time. "Sorry Yveltal but this is it! This is the final battle! GET READY TO SEE THE BOND THAT WE SHARE!" Kai pulled down his left sleeve revealing a black ring bracelet with a rainbow coloured keystone. "_ _ **Keystone lend me your power…**_ _" Kai put his middle and fore finger together and pressed the keystone, he lifted his left arm up and the keystone released a powerful pink light. "_ _ **Surpass evolution…**_ _" A small blue light glowed from the tuft on Lucario's chest, and an identical pink energy surrounded Lucario enveloping him in a cocoon of energy. "_ _ **MEGA EVOLVE!**_ _" The pink cocoon exploded releasing a transformed Lucario._

 _His cream fur became longer, and his thighs slimmed down. He developed more spikes on the back of his paws, which turned crimson. He also developed spikes on both of its feet, which have become crimson too. His aura-sensing appendages grew longer, and two of them were tipped in crimson. His shoulders also possessed a spike each. His aura heightened throughout his body, forming black markings on his blue fur._

 _Lucario cried and wind exerted from his new form, indicated by a mysterious rainbow coloured symbol appearing above his head. He had become… Mega Lucario._

 _"_ _All right Mega Lucario let's give it all we've got!_ _ **Use Power-Up Punch!**_ _" Mega Lucario's paws became fists and were cloaked in a bright orange energy. He ran up to Yveltal at incredible speeds delivering a powerful punch raising his attack. Yveltal used Snarl to counter but Lucario easily dodged and delivered a second more powerful punch raising his attack even more._

 _"_ _ **Rrrrrrh!**_ _" Yveltal screeched, as it used Oblivion Wing. Mega Lucario braced himself and took the hit, getting forced back as he did. When the attack finished Mega Lucario was left standing, but Yveltal healed some damage._

 _"_ _Is that all you've got?" Kai taunted. "_ _ **Lucario use Metal Sound!**_ _" Mega Lucario nodded and slammed his two spikes on his paws together generating horrendous metal scraping soundwaves that lowered Yveltal's special defence twice. Yveltal got desperate and used all of it's strength in a last effort Dark Pulse. Mega Lucario braced himself… When the attack avoided him and kept going. Mega Lucario stared in horror as the attack headed straight for Kai. He had no time to react and it landed with maximum force._

 _"_ _ **LUCARIO!**_ _" Mega Lucario screamed as he ran to Kai. He was in bad shape. Kai's clothes were ripped, he had several bruises formed and forming and his eyes were closed. Lucario in his heightened Mega Evolution sensed more, his aura was weak… And he got angry. He turned to Yveltal with narrowed eyes growling like a rabid animal, the dark aura was surrounding Lucario and manipulating him. He readied a Power-Up Punch when something grabbed him… It was Kai. "Car…"_

 _"_ _Hey." Kai greeted meekly. "I'm not ready to kick the bucket just yet, I'm only fourteen." Mega Lucario felt massively relieved as he helped Kai to stand, Yveltal watching with intrigue. "Now then, I don't know how much energy left we've got but why don't you take this aura around us and use it against him… Well 'it' technically." Mega Lucario looked confused. "What? You're the aura Pokémon, aren't you? So, manipulate the aura." Mega Lucario smiled._

 _"_ _Car." Mega Lucario relaxed and let Yveltal's dark aura flow around him, he let it flow into his own aura and focused it into his paws, turning his blue aura into a black and red colour. Mega Lucario slammed his paws together unleashing a wave of dark aura directly at Yveltal making it flinch._

 _"_ _That was Dark Pulse. You just used Yveltal's aura to learn one of its moves, nice!" Kai complemented and Mega Lucario nodded appreciatively. "Well don't just stand there!_ _ **Use Dark Pulse again!**_ _" Mega Lucario thrusted his paws out and unleashed another Dark Pulse, it forced Yveltal against the walls of the room making it flinch again. "All right this is it Lucario, you know what to do."_

 _"_ _Lucar." Mega Lucario ran towards Yveltal at full speed, his aura returning to its blue colour as he jumped into the air. He put his paws together and a brilliant blue light was formed._

 _"_ _ **USE AURA SHPHERE!**_ _" Kai shouted at the top of his lungs. Mega Lucario threw the ball of condensed aura at Yveltal who was consumed in it's light. The room shook from the impact and Mega Lucario landed on the ground cautiously as Kai held his breath. Yveltal stood on the ground silently, then tumbled with a thud. The dark aura surrounding the room disappeared, and thanks to the damage from the fighting and now that essentially the batteries were removed, the ultimate weapon was losing power fast. "It's over. It's over we won!" Mega Lucario ran to Kai's side and they high fived._

 _"_ _ **Rrrrrrh!**_ _" Kai and Mega Lucario turned to see Yveltal had gone, a loud cry signifying it's escape from flying straight upwards, to the outside world._

 _"_ _You know, I've never understood how some Pokémon can run away after they've been knocked out. Can you explain that?" Kai asked. Mega Lucario merely shrugged his shoulders. Kai laughed as Mega Lucario went still, sensing an aura presence. He shoved Kai out of the way when a grey blur came out of the sky taking Mega Lucario down. "Lucario!"_

 _Mega Lucario was knocked out, a pink light enveloped him and he returned to normal. Above him was a white long bodied Pokémon with whiskers and arms that were covered in a large amount of fur resembling whips._

 _"_ _What a startling development! I never would have thought that you were actually a chosen one!"_

 _Kai turned to see Lysandre standing before him wearing an odd golden gauntlet device on his right arm, a metal backpack that had three flying cameras connected to it, and orange visor like glasses on his face._

 _"_ _Lysandre." Kai growled, as he returned Lucario._

 _"_ _Kai Emblem. Never would I have thought after meeting you at Sycamore's lab or at my café that you would be the imminent threat against my beautiful world." Lysandre explained._

 _"_ _It's too late Lysandre. The legendries are gone! The ultimate weapon is losing power! 'Everyone' knows you're the one responsible! YOU'VE LOST! Just turn yourself in peacefully."_

 _"_ _I don't believe you are in any position to negotiate. All of your Pokémon have been knocked out, and you yourself are barely standing._ _For me, victory is using the ultimate weapon. In order to do that, I need to reclaim the Legendary Pokémon's power and send it to that weapon once again. I'll be taking the Legendary Pokémon back now! This time, I won't lose. But first you know too much, you need to be eliminated. Mienshao…"_

 _Lysandre's Pokémon stepped forward, Kai stepped back defensively wobbling as he tried to stand._

 _'_ _So… Weak in the legs… Of course, after I win against life and death, my own body betrays me.' Kai thought to himself and chuckled. Kai felt something shaking in his pocket and he pulled out the Master ball._

 _"_ _Huh?"_

 _"_ _What are you doing? If you had another Pokémon I would have known about it, and there's no way you could have caught one while you were in here!" Lysandre shouted._

 _Kai pressed the button and out came Xerneas. "_ _ **Rrrrrrh!**_ _"_

 _Lysandre staggered back shocked but regained composure. "_ _So, THIS is the mighty Xerneas?! I expected more from a Pokémon called a legend! You desire help from people? YOU need help from a human?"_

 _"_ _Is that true… Do you… Want me to fight with you?" Kai asked nervously. Xerneas nodded and turned to face Lysandre. "Guess I was wrong, Yveltal wasn't the final battle. You are Lysandre, good thing I saw Xerneas' moves when it was fighting before._ _ **Xerneas use Moonblast!**_ _"_

 _Xerneas created a ball of pink energy in front of it's head and fired it at Mienshao knocking him out in one hit._

 _"_ _What?!" Lysandre reacted._

 _"_ _So, this is what it's like using a legendary. It feels pretty great if I do say so myself."_

 _"_ _You irritating boy. Go Honchkrow!" Lysandre sent out a large black bird with a puffy white chest and feathers arranged on it's head that looked like a fedora (Kai would approve)._

 _"_ _And now you're sending out a Dark type. For a mad genius you're not too smart, are you?_ _ **Xerneas use Moonblast!**_ _" Xerneas attacked again and knocked Honchkrow out of the sky, forcing Lysandre to return it. "Man, that doesn't get old."_

 _"_ _Impossible. How were you able to get such strength on your side?"_

 _"_ _Remember when you robbed the Poké ball factory. Well the owner was so happy he gave me a ball that captures any Pokémon in one try! Or maybe it's because I dress nice, your goons could learn a thing or two from me."_

 _"_ _Why… You… Pyroar!" Lysandre next brought out a Pokémon very similar to appearance to a lion. Its mane was red and yellow striped and its body was mainly dark-brown and light brown at the ends of appendages (feet, end of a tail)._

 _"_ _See there you go, fire resist fairy. Good job." Kai mocked as he slow clapped. "But all it will do is make your demise two turns later than expected okay? Okay. Xerneas start charging energy!" Xerneas started glowing pink._

 _"_ _Just give up!_ _ **Pyroar use Hyper Voice!**_ _" Lysandre ordered. Pyroar opened its mouth and roared generating powerful sound waves that made Kai cover his ears, Xerneas remained unfazed._

 _"_ _Is that it? Good._ _ **Xerneas use Geomancy!**_ _" Xerneas released a rainbow of colours as it increased its special attack, special defence and speed by two stages._

 _"_ _ **Use Hyper Voice!**_ _"_

 _"_ _ **Use Moonblast!**_ _"_

 _Pyroar roared again, and Xerneas shot a blast of energy. The two attacks flew past each other in the air and hit their intended targets. Hyper Voice did significantly less damage on Xerneas, and Pyroar was knocked out instantly._

 _"_ _What is this power?" Lysandre asked bewildered._

 _"_ _The power of people and Pokémon sharing their strength with each other!" Kai answered._

 _Lysandre scowled and brought out his last Pokémon. "Go Gyrados!" His last Pokémon_ _was a serpentine Chinese dragon-like Pokémon. It was mostly blue, with a yellow underbelly and yellow spots along its body. It had a three-pointed, dark blue crest on its head and four white, dorsal fins._

 _"_ _No! NO! I will not let my dream of a beautiful world end here! Gyrados take my strength!" Lysandre revealed a ring on his finger with a keystone in it._

 _"_ _Wait is that a-?"_

 _"_ _ **Now, Mega Evolve!**_ _" Lysandre pressed the keystone and made it shine a pink light. From Gyrados' crest came a dark blue light before it was enveloped in a pink cocoon and broke out, mega evolved._

 _Mega Gyrados_ _was bulkier than its previous form. The fins on its face, its barbels, and its crest were now considerably longer. A large spike extended downward underneath its chin, and it now had a black underside._

 _"_ _ **Xerneas use Moonblast quick!**_ _" Kai ordered._

 _"_ _ **Gyrados use Iron Head!**_ _" Lysandre commanded._

 _Gyrados' body became metallic and his crest widened into a circle, charging at Xerneas head first. Xerneas however was faster and managed to fire off a Moonblast stopping Mega Gyrados in his tracks. He floated in place momentarily but gave in and fell to the ground with swirled pupils, glowing pink and returning to normal._

 _"_ _Phew. That almost looked bad for a minute there." Kai said relieved._

 _Lysandre didn't take defeat well and threw his visor to the ground falling to his knees. "_ _It's over... Fools with no vision will continue to befoul this beautiful world. They will go on until the only thing left to do is squabble over the remaining scraps of hope..."_

 _Kai ignored him and went to pat Xerneas on the head. "Thanks for your help you really saved me. Don't worry I'll release you when this is all over, it wouldn't be right me keeping you." Xerneas licked Kai's cheek in appreciation. "All right, all right settle down. You're pretty lively aren't you." Kai commented not noticing his pun._

 _Lysandre got up watching Kai and Xerneas bonding and he scowled. "_ _ **Whaugh!**_ _"_

 _"_ _You know humans aren't as bad as you think." Kai interrupted, making Lysandre look at him. "Yes, we are our own worst enemy: we pollute the planet, we kill each other, we make our own lives misery. But think of all the good we do: we build homes for each other, create lifesaving medicine for each other, help each other out even in the simplest ways. I'm not the most social person in the world and even I can see that. You know what I think. I think that if we focus more on what we already have, instead of what we could have. The world would be a happier and friendlier place."_

 _"…_ _If that were possible, all wars would have ended long ago! I can only see one future! One where selfish, foolish humans think about nothing other than themselves and steal more and more from one another... It's a tragic future! The original purpose of this device was to bring a Pokémon back to life. But the ancient king transformed it into this ultimate weapon... Hmm. When the Legendary Pokémon awakened, they took back much of their energy-their power-that had been sent to the ultimate weapon. There's not much power left... But there IS enough to use it once..._

 _Kai got worried. "What are you suggesting?"_

 _"_ _Kai, the ultimate weapon is a flower that bloomed to no avail... Just like me... But this ends here! I will show what its remaining power can do!_ "

 _Lysandre pressed a button on his gauntlet that made the weapon power up and release all its energy directly upwards._

 _"…_ _What did you just do?" Kai asked as he felt himself get forcibly grabbed and thrown into the air landing on Xerneas' back. "Xerneas…" Xerneas began running and started climbing the walls of the base to head upwards as if it was climbing the worlds steepest mountain. "No! NO! WAIT! WE CAN'T LEAVE LYSANDRE! HE'LL DIE!" Xerneas turned its head to face Kai's._

 _"_ _I believe he's already made that choice." Xerneas responded._

 _"_ _Di- Did you just?"_

 _"_ _Look below." Kai did as he was told and saw Lysandre staring at him before looking down at his own feet. "Humans are finicky creatures. This man's motivations have been centered on a lack of sharing resources. Though if I were to offer my help he would be too proud to take it. Do you understand?"_

 _"_ _I- I understand."_

 _"_ _Good, now hold on tight!" Xerneas accelerated as Kai held on for dear life. When they made it out Xerneas jumped just outside the towns borders as a bright red and blue light fell from the sky and crashed directly onto the ultimate weapon, making it close up and sink back into the ground, collapsing Team Flare's HQ as it did._

* * *

"After that Xerneas thanked me again on their behalf as well as Yveltal's even though Xerneas said they'd never admit it." Kai chuckled.

"And what next?" Ozpin asked from across the table.

"That's it. I released Xerneas as promised, got some fresh clothes and carried on like nothing happened."

"And no one knew of your brave efforts?"

Kai shook his head. "Not a soul, you're actually the first person I've told."

"I see." Ozpin said as he got up. "One more thing, this Mega Evolution you spoke of, why haven't you used it here?"

Kai shrugged. "I normally save it for powerful opponents or if I'm in a pinch, it's no fun otherwise."

"Well is there anything else that I could do for you?"

"Aside from giving me a loan… I just want to go home."

Ozpin started walking out of the room. "Well I don't know if I could lend you money, that is unprofessional given our relationship as headmaster and student, but I'm done with my questioning. You can return to Beacon."

"That's not what I meant when I said home."

Ozpin left the room. "… I know."

* * *

 **So how's that, I figured that I've been rewriting RWBY long enough might as well do it with Pokémon as well. Also here we get our first glimpse of Mega Evolution, I did have a point where I wanted to debut it but that's still far in the future so this served as a good compromise. Either way the main plot of the 'Remedial lesson arc' will begin next chapter so I hope you'll be happy for that.**

 **Until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	15. Chapter 14: Consequences

**Not real questions this time so lets get on with it.**

* * *

 **-Morning, Beacon Academy-**

 ** _September 9th_**

 ** _My journey in Johto has brought me to Ecruteak city, a town famous for it's burned tower. According to legend: a lightning bolt struck the tower during a thunderstorm burning it to cinders before it was put out by the rain. Unfortunately, three nameless Pokémon perished that day, but were miraculously reborn into the legendary Pokémon: Entei, Raikou and Suicune after the legendary Pokémon Ho-oh appeared out of a rainbow in the sky and bestowed its power upon them. However, humanity was fearful of the Pokémon that manipulated life and chased the Pokémon away. This makes me wonder more about our own relationship with the Grimm. Were they always the demons we saw them as, or is there something more. I still have much of Johto to explore, perhaps if I'm lucky I'll find my way back home while I'm here, one can only wish._**

It was Sunday, the morning after the events with the White Fang and Team Flare, Kai was reading his book again. His finger traced the charcoal drawings of the burned tower and the artistic interpretations of the legendries.

"I've gotta say these drawings aren't too shabby." Kai commented as he stared at his fingers now black with charcoal. "Euh!" Kai immediately got up and wiped his fingers on a tissue, throwing it in the bin. A knock on the door interrupted Kai and he sighed. "Can't I go one day without something happening out of the blue! A warning would be nice." Kai opened the door to see Miss Goodwitch waiting.

"I expect you in the Amphitheatre in one-hour Mr Emblem. Things will be explained then." Goodwitch stated before walking off without another word.

"… Well I guess that counts as a warning."

* * *

Kai walked into the Amphitheatre adjusting his fedora when he stopped in his tracks. "Oooh… It's about that."

In the empty room was Team RWBY and Sun standing and talking.

"How exactly could you organize yourself that poorly?" Weiss berated.

"It was just a simple mistake, anyone could have made it." Sun defended.

"Do I want to know what you're talking about?" Kai asked as he walked in on the group.

"Oh Kai, you're here too." Ruby chimed happily.

"As for what we're talking about… It would probably be better if Sun just told you." Blake answered.

Kai eyed Sun while he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Well you see… Did you know there were two dates students could arrive in Vale? One now and one… At the beginning of the next semester."

"Let me guess, you arrived too early." Kai summarized.

"No way I came here right on time! You see the problem was none of my teammates got the memo I booked the earlier trip and-"

"Oh." Kai interrupted awkwardly.

"And to make matters worse, he's their leader." Weiss added.

"Oh, oh boy… I guess… Whoops."

"Meh, it's fine I've called them already they're cool with it." Sun said relaxed. "Besides it is pretty funny when you think about it."

"In what way, you've left your team alone without a leader for six weeks!" Weiss berated.

"Hey calm down ice queen, they said it was all right."

"It is not all right! And why do people keep calling me that?"

"Huh? I didn't know you cared Weiss, given how he was what did you say… A rapscallion?" Kai commented smugly.

Weiss pointed at Kai assertively. "Well given how Blake continues to be friends with him, as her friend and teammate I am trying to be supportive."

"And you're being supportive… By rubbing in the fact, he made a mistake." Blake pointed out.

"Well how else will he learn!"

"Ugh guys… Goodwitch- aye com- aye this way- aye." Yang warned.

"Aye?" Ruby repeated in confusion.

"Yang what are you going on about?" Weiss asked.

"Good morning students." Goodwitch greeted causing the students to turn around in shock. "I'm sure you're wondering why I have called you here on a Sunday morning?"

"Erm, yeah why?" Ruby asked.

"It's because of yesterday wasn't it?" Kai assumed.

"You would be right in presuming that Mr Emblem." Goodwitch replied.

"Wow. How did you know that?" Ruby asked.

"Because everyone here was also there yesterday. Well barring Penny-" Kai explained.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Ruby interrupted. "Miss Goodwitch do you know if a girl named Penny joined the school, we met her on Friday, and she said she was here for the tournament and-"

"Do you know her last name?" Goodwitch prodded.

"… Um, no."

"Then I'm afraid I can't help you, there could be several young women joining us this year with that name. I'm afraid you will have to find her on your own."

"Oh, okay then." Ruby said disappointed, as Yang put her hand on her shoulder.

"Cheer up Ruby, I'm sure you'll see her again, even if that blue mutt disagrees." Yang comforted.

"If I may rekindle your attention students." Goodwitch interrupted. "As Mr Emblem has said you are all here due to your actions at the docks. Specifically, this is about your punishment."

The students' eyes became white circles. "WHAT?!"

"Please don't interrupt me. It is clearly justified: three of you left the school premises after curfew for at least twelve hours and all of you were involved in an unauthorized engagement against a known criminal organization, as well as an unknown organization that took one of you hostage and nearly kidnapped you." The last comment made Yang look away shamefully.

Blake stepped forward. "Miss Goodwitch with all due respect. The fact that we were faced with the White Fang at all was mere coincidence, and the reason that Weiss and Kai left after curfew and everyone going after the White Fang was because I ran away and confronted them. So please leave them out of this punishment."

"While you bring up a good point Miss Belladonna. Nobody forced your friends to do anything, they did what they did of their own volition as such they are just as guilty of their own crimes."

"… Still…"

Kai leaned in close to Blake. "Take this from a guy who's had plenty of experience sticking his neck out for others. It's fine; we'll pay for what we did ourselves, not by dropping it all on your head."

"Yeah Blake we're a team, so we'll do everything together the good and the bad." Ruby added.

Blake managed to smile as Goodwitch cleared her throat. "If I may continue, were it up to me I'd choose a more time-consuming punishment to ensure you've learned your lesson… However, that decision befalls on Professor Ozpin who has decided on a remedial lesson today."

"Today is Sunday, right?" Yang asked. "Can't we just push this to Monday or Tuesday or-"

"It needs to be today because we can't jeopardize your learning by holding this lesson during your regular classes. That and holding this on a day you would normally spend relaxing is a punishment in and of itself." The teenagers all looked disappointed. "As for your lesson itself, you will be sent into the Emerald Forest alone for the day and you must survive and make camp until tomorrow morning when we retrieve you."

"Wait! We're going in there alone!" Weiss interrupted.

"So… We're going camping, that sounds right up my street." Kai stated confidently.

"Yeah, dad took us camping when we were kids." Ruby added.

"It's not just going to be some simple camping trip you dolts!" Weiss berated. "There's going to be Grimm everywhere, barely any resources and we won't have any supplies!"

"Actually, Miss Schnee if you let me finish, you would know that we're giving you an hour and a half to pack everything that you may need before transporting you via a Bullhead from the Main Avenue." Miss Goodwitch explained.

Weiss went silent in embarrassment and everyone had smiles on their faces. "Shut up!"

"We didn't say anything." Sun corrected smugly.

"You are all dismissed, I expect all of you at the Main Avenue in an hour and a half." Miss Goodwitch began to leave, when Kai caught up with her.

"Actually Miss Goodwitch, do you mind if we leave a little later?"

"And why would we do that?" Kai held out a slip of paper which Miss Goodwitch took. "What is this?"

"A doctors' appointment scheduled for forty-five minutes from now. I don't know how long it will last and I don't want to risk going over sooo…"

Goodwitch sighed. "Very well. I will inform Ozpin and the pilot that due to medical reasons we will post pone the flight by half an hour. Will that be enough time?"

"Yes it will, thank you." Kai grabbed the slip from Goodwitch back, as she started walking away.

"And Mr Emblem. Don't think I haven't forgotten about you bringing out your Pokémon when you weren't supposed to, you'll have your own punishment for that soon enough."

Kai sighed. "Yeah, yeah." He muttered, as Goodwitch left. A hand was then on his shoulder.

"Man, that was good thinking coming up with that doctors' appointment excuse, but I think you could have hassled for a bit more time." Yang complimented.

"It wasn't an excuse, I actually need to head off now." Kai explained as he quickly brushed off Yang's arm. "Talonflame would get me there in no time but I'm still not allowed to bring them out… Then again I already did so it can't get much worse if I do it one more time." Kai muttered.

"Are you sick?" Ruby asked concerned.

"What? No, it's about these headaches."

"Headaches?"

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed: the Ursa, sparring against Weiss, fighting the White Fang. I kept getting these terrible headaches at the most inopportune times. I had hoped they were one offs but since they keep happening I figured I need to see someone about it."

"Couldn't you just go to the school's nurse?" Blake asked.

"I could but I happen to know a good doctor."

"Who?" Weiss asked.

* * *

There was an intense bright light, that made up all that Kai could see yet it didn't hurt.

"Uh huh." A woman muttered. "Other eye now."

Kai closed his left eye opening his right letting him get a brief glimpse at the woman… Doctor Amethyst. She held a small torch in her hand which she shone directly into Kai's eye.

"Is this going to take much longer I-" Kai started to say.

"No talking."

"Um, sorry I-"

"Still talking."

Kai shut his mouth as Doctor Amethyst turned off the light.

"Well?" Kai asked.

"I don't see anything wrong."

"Nothing?"

"Did you think I made a mistake?"

"No, no it's just…" Kai got up from his seat and started gathering his things. "It just seems like these are worse than regular headaches."

Doctor Amethyst shrugged her shoulders. "Well I suppose you might be suffering from migraines but there's nothing I can suggest for that other than staying in a dark quiet room to rest. But I think it's more likely that given your recent head trauma you're just being paranoid."

"Gee, thanks doc. Great diagnosis." Kai thanked sarcastically, and Doctor Amethyst chuckled.

"No problem. But while you're here I was hoping to ask, have any of your memories been coming back?"

"Oh yeah they have! Turns out I'm not from around Vale, I… Come from somewhere else and right now I'm trying to get home."

"And where is home?"

"I… I… Haven't remembered that yet." Kai lied.

"Well is there anything else you remember? It has been several weeks since I saw you that night."

"Well it's not memory related but, I am now a Huntsman in training."

"… You."

"Yeah me, why?"

"You just don't seem like the type."

"Well I'm happy to subvert expectations."

The door opened and a woman stepped through. "You're next patient's here." She stated.

"Thank you, Denice send them in after I'm done with this one." Doctor Amethyst instructed.

The woman closed the door and Kai got up.

"Guess I should be heading off then." Kai stated.

"… Just take care of yourself okay." Doctor Amethyst said solemnly.

"Sure thing." Kai answered as he closed the door.

Doctor Amethysts dog ears drooped as she took a sigh. "Kids these days. Always trying to get themselves killed."

* * *

In Team RWBY's dorm the girls were all packing rucksacks with what they might need.

"Sleeping bags?" Ruby asked.

"Check!" Weiss answered.

"Cooking stuff?"

"Check!" Blake answered.

"Ammo?"

"A little light but should be plenty." Yang answered.

Past their open-door Team JNPR walked by and stopped.

"Are you guys going somewhere?" Jaune asked.

"Only to the best camping trip EVER!" Ruby energetically answered.

"Ruby for the last time, it's not a camping trip. It's a remedial lesson to punish us and teach us a lesson." Weiss explained.

"Pot-a-to. Po-ta-to."

"Check!" Blake confirmed.

Weiss shrugged it off as she carried on packing.

"Camping! That's so cool! Me and Ren do that all the time!" Nora admired.

"More like we travel a lot." Ren specified.

"I have to admit the thought of camping in the woods does sound rather exciting." Pyrrha admitted.

"Yeah it's the best!" Jaune stated. "I went to Shion with my family all the time to do it. There was this great hiking trail, we always went to this amazing camping spot and I got my own tent because I was special!"

"Sure Jaune, you're really special." Yang emphasized.

"Why thank you… Hey!"

The group laughed, before settling down.

"So, what did you do to win this trip?" Nora asked.

"We stopped a bunch of bad guys down at the docks. No biggie." Ruby answered.

"The docks… That's where the White Fang were yesterday." Ren stated.

"Wait… You didn't-!" Jaune gasped, as Yang nodded her head. "Woah."

"Most of them still got away though." Blake reminded everyone bitterly.

"But still you went up against a known terrorist group and you survived, that's impressive. How exactly did you meet them anyway?"

Ruby and Yang turned to Weiss and Blake. "… We were just in the right place at the right time." Blake answered.

"Is that it though?" Nora asked. "You just happened to meet them in the middle of the afternoon."

Weiss got up from her packing and stood up. "We only have fifteen minutes left to pack before leaving, and you're distracting us. Can we have this conversation at another time?!"

"Geez, geez sorry." Nora exaggeratedly apologized.

"Well good luck with your remedial lesson." Pyrrha encouraged before her and her team left.

"That was a bit pushy Weiss." Yang commented.

"They were getting too nosy. We need to keep as many people out of the loop as possible, for Blake's sake." Weiss explained.

"Come on Weiss, I'm sure Blake doesn't mind right Blake?" Ruby suggested.

"No, Weiss is right." Blake stated. "I want to keep as many people away from my past as possible, honestly even including all of you seems too much."

"Come on Blake, you're not even gonna tell them about you know… The bow."

"Absolutely not! That would go against the point of wearing it, do you really trust Jaune and the others to not say anything, even accidently."

"Well yeah I do."

Blake sighed. "You wouldn't understand Ruby. I just don't want to get any unwanted attention."

Ruby sat next to her. "No, I get it. I came here two years early, all I want is to be treated like everyone else, to have 'normal knees'. But I didn't need to hide myself to do that."

"I appreciate what you're trying to say Ruby, but the attention you've gotten you only got now. I've had to deal with this my whole life."

"Blake…"

"Uh Hum!" Weiss coughed. "I appreciate the heart to heart but we've only got eleven minutes to finish packing, so if we could save this until later then that would be wonderful."

"Way to ruin the moment." Yang critiqued.

"We can't have moments if we have a limited time frame." Weiss argued.

* * *

Team RWBY were all wearing large rucksacks on their backs and were accompanied by Sun on the Main Avenue waiting by a Bullhead.

"I can't believe we got here before Kai and Miss Goodwitch." Yang commented.

"We're here on time!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Technically they still have a minute. So, we're here early." Blake corrected.

A loud rush of wind was heard and Team RWBY and Sun looked behind them to see Kai had suddenly appeared looking at his scroll.

"Aaand, one-minute to spare. Nailed it!" Kai cheered to himself.

"And now only Miss Goodwitch is late, typical am I right?" Yang stated.

"How was your appointment?" Blake asked.

"Apparently there was nothing wrong with me. Which is disappointing given how there was an absurdly long wait." Kai answered.

"Wait, you only just got back now?" Weiss assumed.

"Yes, and?"

"You've had no time to pack!"

"I don't need to, I've made a habit of carrying everything I could ever possibly need on my back." Kai pointed to his yellow backpack on his back. "It is surprisingly spacious, ask any trainer that has one."

"I find that hard to believe."

Kai looked around and spotted Sun before eying him down. "Hold on! Sun doesn't even have a bag, so why are you going after me?"

"Gee way to throw me under the bus." Sun commented. "Besides I don't need to pack anything I can just use what I see around me."

"That explains why all the food you find comes off the ground!" Talonflame judged as he flew down to their level.

"Sweet, talking bird."

"The name's Talonflame! Don't forget it bub."

"Hi Talonflame!" Ruby greeted.

Talonflame turned his head away but looked at Ruby in the corner of his eye. "Hey. It's… Nice to see you."

"You're talking to me!" Ruby shouted. "I knew we were becoming friends!"

"WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! Don't push it! I just greeted you…! Nothing! Else!"

"Well what's brought this sudden change, before you couldn't even stand being in the same room as us." Weiss contradicted.

"… Let's just say I may have been hasty judging some of you so… I'm willing to give you another chance. Just don't make me mad, and we'll get along great."

"Sure, thing bird dude!" Sun walked up to Talonflame and raised his fist. "Come on don't leave me hanging."

"… You ruined it. I opened myself up and I hate you now. Great job lasting five seconds without- TICKING ME OFF!"

"You know you're kind of a buzzkill you know that."

"WHY I OUGHT A-!

"That's enough social interaction for today Talonflame, why don't you return." Kai pulled out his Poké ball.

"Hmph! With pleasure!" Talonflame grunted as he was returned.

"So, I'm just gonna come out and say it. That guy was kind of a jerk." Sun admitted.

"Well at least he's trying." Kai defended.

"Good afternoon students." Miss Goodwitch appeared out of nowhere surprising everyone. "I hope that you all have prepared accordingly."

"Yes ma'am!" Ruby answered.

"Very good we've wasted enough time already. Please everyone make it onto the Bullhead and we'll get ready to leave."

Goodwitch marched the students onto the vehicle and walked into the cockpit closing the door behind her leaving the students alone as it took off and flew away.

* * *

"This is gonna be so much fun!" Ruby chimed.

"You know I've never really slept in a forest before." Sun started. "I've slept in: deserts, cities, hidden crevices on boats, but never a forest."

"I always saw it more as a mountainside, or ruins or… I don't know." Yang explained.

"Have you been there before?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say it was where our team first met."

"I thought that was when we all slept in the school." Blake contradicted.

"I meant officially."

"Can one of you explain please?" Kai asked nicely.

"Make that two explanations." Sun added.

"The Emerald Forest is privately owned land used by the school for a variety of educational purposes." Weiss started to explain. "In our case it was the site of our initiation: we each met up with our partner for the next four years and had to collect one of several artifacts. Two pairs with the same artifact would be joined together into a team of four and that's how Team RWBY was established."

"It's hard to believe that it was only six or seven weeks ago that we all came together." Ruby admired nostalgically.

"Yeah we had something similar like that at Haven. Only-"

"Wait a minute!" Kai interrupted. "I thought you were from Vaccuo."

"I am but I decided to got to Haven, is that so odd?"

"Just let me get this straight…" Kai inhaled deeply. "You live in Vaccuo, but you went to an academy in Mistral, only to live in Vale due to the tournament."

"Aaand! I don't like staying in one place too long."

"Except that now you're going to be staying at Beacon until the end of Autumn."

"… You know maybe I didn't think this through."

Kai scoffed. "And you've got a team named after you."

"Err, no I don't!"

"Right Team 'Sun' isn't named after their leader like Team 'Ruby' isn't named after their leader."

Team RWBY looked around awkwardly at each other. "Kai, the team isn't named after me." Ruby admitted.

"Really." He said unconvincingly. "You're telling me that it's more likely to be named after- I don't know… An acronym of your names."

"Do you know what Jaune and Cardin's teams are called?" Blake asked awkwardly.

"JNPR and CRDL right? No idea why they called themselves that though."

Team RWBY and Sun went quiet as Kai slowly put together everyone's names in front of him into their team names.

"Oh… Wow…"

"It's not a big deal Kai I'm sure plenty of people make that mista-" Ruby comforted.

"Wow… Wow… Oh… Wow…" Kai muttered in disbelief.

"Did he really not notice?" Yang asked.

"I guess not." Blake answered.

The inside of the Bullhead was awkward for several minutes.

"I know what would make you feel better!" Ruby exclaimed. "Why don't we make a team name of you and your Pokémon."

"That… Seems rather complicated. But we've got nothing better to do so why not?" Kai conceded.

"Well let's see: your name begins with a 'K' and that has to go first, next to that we can have an 'A' and a 'T'. And there's also an 'L', 'G' 'S' and… Yeah I've got nothing." Ruby gave up.

"Told ya."

"That's five letters." Blake said softly.

"No, there were six letters. This school should really teach some basic mathematics."

"I mean there were five letters for each of your Pokémon, but you said you have six."

"Oh yeah, I remember you telling us that." Weiss added. "How come you haven't shown them all off yet?"

"Well given how rare they are I want to be careful with when I use them. It's why Slurpuff hasn't been used in the school and why Lucario I've only shown off to you in an emergency."

"Okay but what's the deal with this last one?" Yang asked.

Kai held a Poké ball in his hand. "This one… Well I guess there are three things."

"Three things?" Sun asked.

"Well all of my Pokémon have reasons why I need to be careful with them: Talonflame's anger, Greninja's ego and general annoyance, so on and so forth. This one has three main ones."

"Which are?" Weiss asked insistently.

"I'm getting to that!" Kai sighed. "Well firstly he's rather big… Not overly large but his appendages are… Awkwardly wide let's say. Secondly, he's surprisingly shy and awkward not really a social person, and thirdly…" Kai hesitated.

"Thirdly?" Ruby repeated.

"… Let's just say that he's the most monstery of my pocket monsters, and arguably… Grimm-ey. I've only brought him out once in front of people and it… It did not go well I'll say that much."

"He isn't like a Grimm though, right?" Weiss asked cautiously.

"Oh, Arceus no! Don't you remember point two, he's kind of like a little brother when you get to know him, but you combine an overly-anxious personality with an appearance that makes people panic. And it causes problems…"

"Well I'm sure we won't mind him." Ruby comforted.

"Honestly it sounds kind of cool to have a Grimm looking thing to send out at people if you want." Yang commented.

Kai smiled. "Tell you what, when we start setting up camp. I'll bring everyone out, that way you all can get to know them properly."

"REALLY!" Ruby beamed."

"Ruby! Use your inside voice." Weiss berated.

"Sorry." Ruby whispered.

"Now you're being too quiet."

"I don't know what you want from me."

The Bullhead shook slightly interrupting the group.

"What was that?" Sun asked cautiously.

"It's probably just turbulence." Weiss stated.

The Bullhead shook again.

"I know this might not be the best time, but I've had a recent bad experience with mysterious shaking." Kai mentioned.

"All right calm down people." Yang reassured. "I'm sure that this will all pass any minute-"

The Bullhead shook violently and started descending at a rapid rate. The lights went out and were replaced by a dim red light signifying an emergency.

"Or alternatively- WE'RE ABOUT TO CRASH!" Kai shouted.

"Hey don't yell at ME!" Yang shouted back with red eyes.

"Everyone just calm down!" Blake shouted.

"Yeah, we're probably ages from the ground, plenty of time to pull up!" Sun agreed.

"We may be closer than you think." Weiss murmured looking out of a window, seeing the forests tree line in close view.

"Oh no!" Ruby panicked.

Kai calmed himself with his breathing until he was shaken by a powerful rumble, "Son of a bi-!"

The Bullhead crashed into the ground and everywhere went black.

* * *

"Guh…" A lone voice groaned in the wreckage of the plane. "What happened?" Sun asked himself as he got up. The inside of the Bullhead was a mess: the red light was blinking, sparks were visibly seen from broken wires and the metal walls had dented. But more importantly…

"Where is everyone?" Sun asked himself as he saw he was all alone. He tried pulling the cockpit door open but when he did the pilot and Miss Goodwitch were also missing. "Well this is freaky." Sun slowly backed away and forced open the door, when he did he went wide eyed. "Kai!" He shouted as he ran over to an unconscious Kai lying outside on the grass. "Come on dude, wake up!" He shook Kai and he slowly opened his eyes and got up.

"Didn't anyone tell you that shaking someone awake was rude!" Kai said annoyingly.

"You're welcome, by the way." Sun responded.

"Whatever, what happened?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me. I wake up and everyone's gone, even the pilot and the teacher. I open the door and boom! Here you are lying out on the grass taking a nap."

"I was knocked out!"

"What's the difference?"

"One is nice, the other makes you panic and drop money- wait! Did you say you were all alone?"

"Yeah check yourself, it's completely deserted."

"I believe you it's just I don't remember getting out and I doubt that the guys would just leave-" Kai realized something and panicked. He patted down his waist and his head. Then he checked his pockets, his bag, the ground, everywhere in a frantic panic. "Oh no- oh no- oh no- oh no!"

"Woah dude chill! Chill! We're gonna get through this."

"I've lost it! I've lost them! Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh ARCEUS!"

"All right what did you lose I'll help you find it."

Kai turned to sun with a horrified expression. "My family. They're all missing."

"Your fami-"

"MY POKEMON!"

"Well they can't be too far away-"

"And that's not just it, there's something else. Something just as precious!"

"What?"

Kai pointed at the air over his neatly brushed brown hair. "My hat…" He whimpered.

* * *

A single leaf fluttered in the wind, eclipsed by the sun making it seem black before falling gently revealing it's true green colour. It slowed down and landed on the pale nose of a sleeping Ruby Rose. She was appropriately surrounded by a bed of flowers, not roses though these bared more resemblance to daisies. The leaf tickled her nose causing her to twitch in place, her eye lids tightened, and she started to squirm.

"A… A…" She meekly breathed. " **ACHOO!** "

Ruby sneezed herself awake blowing the leaf away. She lifted her torso up but still had her legs lying on the ground. She turned her head analyzing her surroundings before an important thought occurred.

"Where am I?" She whispered. Ruby got onto her feet and brushed herself off before picking up her rucksack conveniently nearby. "Hello! Is anyone here?!" There was no response and Ruby started walking forward. "Yang! Blake! Weiss! Where are you?!" Still no response, Ruby scratched her head and started walking through the trees.

 _'_ _Where is everyone?'_ Ruby thought. _'I remember the crash but I woke up nowhere near the Bullhead. Did someone carry me?'_

These thoughts continuously followed Ruby through the woods as she got the feeling she was being watched. Ruby felt uneasy as sunlight flashed into her eyes.

"Gah! You win this round sun!" Ruby put her hand in front of her face to block the light, she noticed that when she did all the sunlight faded. Ruby lowered her hand slightly and found the source of the light, a shiny spherical object hanging in a tree. "What is that?" Ruby made her way to the tree and punched it before recoiling her hand. "Ow." Ruby growled slightly and pulled out Crescent Rose in it's sniper configuration, before shooting at the tree knocking out: branches, birds' nests, a flaming pile of branches and the sphere which was revealed to be…

"A Poké ball?" Ruby examined the familiar device and pressed the button in the center enlarging it. "Cool." Ruby held the ball in several trainer like poses, before grinning and thrusting the ball forward. "I choose you!"

The ball opened up and a white light flew past Ruby taking form into Greninja, the world seemed to slow down as a Beowolf lunged at Ruby and Greninja used Night Slash decapitating the Grimm in a single blow as it turned into ash.

"Could it be? Yes, it has! Greninja has just gone two for two in saving the Rose sisters! The crowd goes wild as Greninja proves once again that he is the hero the world deserves and desperately needs!" Greninja cheered to himself clasping his two front feet and shaking them in a celebratory fashion and making imitation cheering noises. Ruby smiled as Greninja turned around to face her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah thanks." Ruby replied. "How did you-?"

"Pure instinct." Greninja exaggerated in a breathy voice. "Plus, I'm not completely blind in that ball. I got a bird's eye view from that tree."

"That's so cool!'

"Yeah, also minor detail. I also saw that thing wasn't alone and now we're completely surrounded."

"What?!"

A hoard of Beowolf's started walking towards Ruby and Greninja menacingly as they got ready to defend themselves.

"In hindsight maybe I should have started with that." Greninja admitted.

* * *

Weiss was walking alone in a set of ruins, covered in plant life over time.

"Ruby! Blake! Yang!" She cried out. "Well this is just typical." She moaned. As she moved around the immediate area she got a sense of de ja vu, almost like she'd been here before. This lasted until eventually she made it to a familiar location: a round open temple, with stone pedestals used to hold relics during the initiation. And on one of these pedestals was a Poké ball.

"No way." Weiss whispered grabbing the Poké ball of the pedestal. Weiss threw it to the ground bouncing and slowly rolling with a click. Weiss picked the ball up and threw it into the air where it immediately fell back onto the ground. "How exactly does Kai open one of these?" Weiss picked the ball again and looked at it when she felt a sudden impulse to press the middle button. She did and the ball enlarged before Lucario came out.

"Thank you, Miss Schnee." Lucario thanked.

"Wait that feeling just now, was that you?" Weiss asked. Lucario nodded. "How?"

"I used my aura to send a message to you through your aura to press the button. I found it would be much faster and efficient to send a message then for you to figure it out."

"I would have figured it out!"

"Of course, you would have. But who knows how long that would have taken." Before Weiss could respond Lucario started sensing aura in the immediate area before looking back to Weiss. "No one is near here, we should move immediately to find the others." Lucario started heading off and Weiss cut him off.

"And who put you in charge?!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Well I was also looking for the others before I found you."

"Then we are in agreement, there is no further need for discussion."

"Wait what about the Grimm, we need to be careful."

"If there are any major threats, I should be able to sense them before they arrive."

"You can't because- look out!"

Out of the forest came a large Grimm resembling a scorpion. Most of its body was covered in a bone-like exoskeleton covered in red markings barring its legs, and its stinger was golden and bright.

Lucario saw it in surprise, but quickly fired off an Aura Sphere that caused it to momentarily stop when it collided against its face. The aura flames faded and the Grimm shook its head before getting closer. Lucario looked in surprise, as a large mass of ice was formed under the Grimm trapping it.

"That won't hold it forever!" Weiss warned. "That thing is too tough for us to take on alone, our best bet is to retreat for now and escape."

Lucario looked at the Grimm then back to Weiss before bowing. "A wise decision. Please Miss Schnee lead the way."

Weiss smirked. "This way!" Weiss called out as she ran back to the temple Lucario in hot pursuit. The Grimm broke free of Weiss' ice and started chasing after the two at an alarming speed. The two noticed and tried to ward it off with aura and ice attacks but it's defenses were too strong. "We need to slow it down!"

"My Dark Pulse might make it flinch momentarily, but it only has a twenty percent chance of working." Lucario explained.

"That's not good enough! We need something-"

" **NOIII!** "

A high-pitched shriek boomed throughout the area.

"What was that?!"

Lucario closed his eyes and raised his appendages for aura. He found the signature he was looking for and smiled. "Miss Schnee, we need to lure the Grimm closer."

"We can't fend it off."

"We don't have to, we just need a good shot."

"You want to fight it?!"

"Not exactly." The Grimm got even closer and Lucario thrusted his paws forward. " **Dark Pulse!** " The dark aura was met with the same result as the Aura Sphere as it kept going. Weiss formed a glyph in front of the Grimm, when it walked onto it she gestured her fingers upwards turning the glyph black trapping it in place.

"It's closer, you have a shot, take it!" Weiss ordered.

"I apologize for the misunderstanding Miss Schnee, I'm not taking the shot."

" **NOIII!** "

Lucario smirked. "They are."

Weiss looked confused as out of nowhere a powerful wind current blew past her causing her ponytail to flop around. Weiss released the glyph on the Grimm which started squirming as it was getting lifted into the air, a large hurricane had formed around the Grimm sending it spiraling into the air before forcibly dropping it to the earth with a crack. Weiss looked on in shock seeing the massive Grimm thrown by the wind as a black blur flew ahead of her before flying stationary in the sky.

The black blur was large and bat-like with enormous ears reminiscent of speakers. It had a mane of white fur sprouting around its neck and upper back. Its two black wings were lined with a dusky purple and had maroon grasping claws at their edge. A teal membrane fans between its ribcage and wings, its nose was a red crest, its eyes were a bright yellow and it had a long black tail with a teal underside.

"VERN!" The creature screeched.

The Grimm snipped at the bat with its pincers but the creature was able to aerially maneuver out of their range. The bat's wings glowed light blue and it began flapping them at a powerful rate generating a powerful wind vortex that pushed the Grimm back and started lifting it in the air. As it was lifted the Grimm extended its tail stabbing the bat in the chest stopping its attack and knocking it to the ground. The Grimm fell and charged at the bat which quickly got up on two feet and gaped its mouth, wailing at a high pitch generating a pink sound wave from its large ears that caused the Grimm to uncomfortably shake before regaining momentum trapping the bats tail in one of its pincers making it screech in pain. The bat creature managed to fly above the ground where it generated a purple light inside of its mouth before opening it wide to release a purple laser that forced the Grimm to let go, pushing it away scraping the ground. The Grimm raised its stinger to attack immediately dropping it down on itself causing its exoskeleton to crack as it made impact. The bat creature saw its chance and the insides of its ears glowed white before releasing a powerful sound wave with the force and volume of an explosion. The sound wave went straight through the Grimm making its body vibrate unnaturally as it dissolved, its ashes being passed along the sound waves. The bat screeched in victory over the Grimm and turned its head to where Weiss and Lucario were. Lucario was about to approach it when Weiss grabbed his paw and pulled him behind an old rocky wall.

"Get down." Weiss whispered.

"Miss Schnee, there is no reason to be afraid, the Grimm has been dealt with." Lucario explained.

"Except now that other Grimm just killed it and now it'll come after us. We could barely scratch that Death Stalker but that… I don't even know what _that_ even is."

A loud flapping sound was heard above their heads and their environment had gotten suddenly darker. Weiss hesitantly looked up to see the bat creature staring down at them, Weiss pulled her sword out defensively against the creature and the creature's eyes widened.

"AAH!" The bat creature panicked as it clumsily fell of the wall it was perched on.

"… Did that that _thing_ just say 'aah _'_?" Weiss asked baffled. The creature's ears were visible over the wall as it slowly raised its head, it saw Weiss holding her sword and immediately ducked down again making a short yelp as it did. "Is that thing afraid of me?"

"Perhaps this would go easier if you put your sword away." Lucario suggested as he walked around the wall.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Weiss followed Lucario around where she saw the creature huddled up, it covered its face with its wing, leaving one of its eyes visible to let it see.

"Miss Schnee, please sheath your weapon. I would prefer not to ask for a third time."

Weiss stared in disbelief as she cautiously put her sword to her belt. The bat creature got out of its huddled-up position and blinked nervously.

"… Um… Hi…" The creature greeted in a child-like voice nervously.

"… It talks." Weiss muttered in disbelief. Weiss then suddenly put it together: it's abilities, Lucario's calm demeanor towards it, its appearance and behavior… There was only one explanation.

"I'm sorry for scaring you earlier. I honestly didn't mean to ma'am." The bat said in his child-like voice.

"… You're Kai's sixth Pokémon, aren't you?"

Lucario chuckled. "It certainly took you long enough to figure out. It is my privilege to introduce the final member of our family to you. May I present to you Miss Schnee… Noivern."

* * *

 **And there we have it, lots of you have been asking and now I can finally put it to rest, Kai's final Pokémon is Noivern! And based on the reviews of people guessing I could tell that nobody saw this one coming.**

 **In case you're wondering how a Noivern would have a child-like voice, I always hear Noivern in my story with the same voice as Chip from Sonic Unleashed if that makes it any easier.**

 **Still the 'Remedial lesson arc' is in full swing. So until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	16. Chapter 15: Meet and greet

**Hello and welcome back. I got a surprising amount of reviews last chapter so thanks for that. But before we can continue it's time for questions:**

 **Jyoster: I really didn't have too much of a motive for Noivern looking like a Grimm (at least to me, lots of you have corrected me on this). I planned to give Kai Noivern and when I was coming up with ideas, one of them was how he had the four main colours of a Grimm ( _Black_ skin, _White_ fur, _Yellow_ eyes, _Red_ claws). I figured that this idea could get some interesting reactions especially given how his personality is so innocent.**

* * *

 **-Midday, Emerald Forest-**

 _The world was silent and dark. In a dark cave filled with stalactites and stalagmites lay a sleeping dragon._

 _"_ _Fume."_

 _Noivern shot awake. "Gah! What was-?" Noivern looked at his surroundings carefully, the edges of the cave were completely black and showed blue lights passing through. He looked up and he could see the outside through the tinted ceiling of the cave. It was the Emerald Forests floor._

 _Noivern grumbled. "I knew it was nothing, stupid sensitive hearing. I'm safe in my Poké ball anyway." Noivern closed his eyes and began falling back to sleep._

 _"_ _Arfume… Par…"_

 _Noivern stood up on high alert. "Where are you?" He shouted. The cave held no answers and his view of the outside was unchanged. "Hello, anyone? Kai what's going on?" He was met with no reply. "Kai?! Kai?! Where are you Kai?!" The world continued to ignore Noivern and he bowed his head sadly as tears began to form in his eyes._

 _"_ _Par…"_

 _A rustling caught Noivern's attention from the outside world and he looked up to see a familiar family member in the clearing._

 _"_ _Sis? … Sis! Over here!" Noivern cried to no avail. But thankfully his sister found him, appearing huge over the ceiling view._

 _"_ _Parfume!" She cried out in joy as Noivern heard the sound of the Poké ball unlocking and he flew up to the ceiling glowing with a bright light as he escaped his cave appearing in the forest._

 _"_ _You found me sis! Where is everyone? Is Kai okay?" Noivern asked desperately._

 _"_ _Shh. Relax Noivern parfume, dry your tear parfumes." Slurpuff comforted._

 _"_ _What?! Me- no! I was- wasn't crying. It was just… You know… Stuff…" Noivern defended._

 _"_ _Uh huh." Slurpuff replied unconvincingly. "Well Noivern parfume now is not the time for tear parfumes. Kai parfume and his friend parfumes crashed and their parfumes have been separated by some unknown parfume._

 _"_ _They crashed! I mean… I guess that explains the sudden shaking and silence."_

 _"_ _I am glad I have found your parfume Noivern parfume. With your hearing parfume and my smelling parfume we must trace their parfumes and bring them together again."_

 _"_ _Then what are we waiting for let's go!"_

 _"_ _Ah sweet Noivern parfume. For this parfume to work our parfumes must disperse into the air to spread our parfume more."_

 _"_ _You want us to split up? As in go alone. Into the creepy forest filled with monsters!"_

 _Slurpuff gently brushed Noivern's cheek. "Shh, shh, shh. Don't worry Noivern parfume, your parfume can do this. My parfume believes in you."_

 _"_ _But sis-"_

 _"_ _PAARRRFUUME!" Slurpuff waddled at full speed from Noivern leaving him alone._

 _"_ _But I… No- Kai's counting on me, I will find him, I will-"_

 _"_ _ **AWOOOOO!**_ _" A noise cried in the distance._

 _"_ _AAH! I've gotta get out of here right now!" Noivern panicked and flew into the air as fast as he could._

* * *

"Aaand that's it, I think." Noivern explained to Weiss and Lucario. "No wait! I heard fighting a little while ago and when I came closer I heard bro's voice. That's how I found you two."

"So Slurpuff was the one who set you free." Lucario murmured. "I suppose since she can trace our families _parfumes_ from anywhere it would make sense for her to look for us."

"So, the inside of your ball is a cave?" Weiss asked.

"… That's all you got from my story?" Noivern asked slightly confused.

"I got the rest but, how-?"

"The Poké ball transfers our physical bodies into data for storage and as such can create an ideal virtual reality. Mine is set in high mountaintops for example." Lucario explained.

"You get turned into data?" Weiss murmured.

"You must be fun at parties." Noivern remarked. Weiss gave Noivern a cold look and he backed away. "I- I only mean that you don't need to know all the details about something. Please don't be mad."

Weiss sighed and turned away. "Well thank you for saving us… Noivern was it? I think it's time for you to find someone else."

"Oh? I could… Or I could hang around with you guys. You know in case more of those Grimm thingies show up."

"We should be able to handle ourselves from here on Noivern. It would be more productive for you to locate the others and to bring them to us, or vice versa." Lucario explained.

"Right! Right… Yeah that sounds better…."

"Noivern, if you're scared-"

"Pfft! Me scared! No, I was just asking in case you were scared, cause I'm not!"

The group was in awkward silence. "So, you were going." Weiss reminded.

"Yeah, yeah I'm off. Unless!" Noivern looked back at Weiss and Lucario, neither of them saying anything. Noivern looked away and sighed before flying into the air.

"He seemed… Nice." Weiss commented.

"He is." Lucario said fondly before turning back to Weiss. "However, there is an immediate problem at hand. These Grimm I… Cannot sense their aura."

"That's because they don't have aura, they aren't living things they're monsters. Everyone knows that." Weiss answered.

"They… Don't have aura?" Lucario whispered to himself.

Weiss looked ahead and got Lucario's attention. "We should probably head to higher ground, there'll be less Grimm and we'll have a better view of the area."

"… Very well Miss Schnee. While we travel I will keep sensing for aura, we may find one of our allies along the way.

"Good, come on then." Weiss stated as she began heading off. Lucario closed his eyes and raised his aura sensing appendages as he walked from behind.

 _'_ _Monsters without aura…'_ Lucario thought to himself.

* * *

Yang was in a rocky mountain area sighing. She was sitting down grunting in boredom and annoyance. Her right leg, looked awkwardly twisted and had a large bruise on it. A flapping sound was heard above her and Talonflame came down.

"See anyone nearby?" She asked.

"What do you think?" Talonflame grunted.

"Well this is juuust great, isn't it?"

"You think this is bad, I'm stuck here babysitting you when Kai is somewhere out there in who knows what state!"

"Calm down! How do you think I feel about Ruby, we'll find them!"

"Kind of hard when I'm stuck here making sure you're not eaten!"

"Hey give me a break, I only hurt my leg because I was getting your stupid ball."

"Nobody asked you to get it lady!"

"Well nobody asked you stay here with me!"

"Actually- YOU DID!"

Yang sighed. "This is sooo boring."

"You're telling me. You know what I really want right now?"

The two exhaled. "A good fight." They said simultaneously, before looking at each other.

"You too?" Talonflame asked.

"Well I am kind of a thrill seeker." Yang admitted.

"Well I doubt either of us is gonna be thrilled anytime soon."

The sound of rocks scraping interrupted the two.

"Way to jinx it." Yang stated.

"What are you complaining about? This is gonna be fun!" Talonflame cheered.

"I can't even stand! How do you expect me to fight?!"

"Your gauntlets are guns, right? Point and shoot! Look something's coming!"

A dark shadow spread across the rocks to Talonflame and Yang signifying the approach of something in the distance. Yang gritted her teeth and brought out her gauntlets as Talonflame produced embers off his body. The shadow abruptly stopped and Talonflame and Yang got ready to strike, what they didn't expect was the shadow revealing its single purple eye.

"Ew!" Yang groaned sticking her tongue out.

"Wait, is that?" Talonflame started to say as the shadow began to rise out of the ground forming into a familiar golden sword.

"Talonflame. Lady Yang, thank the heavens that you two are alright." Aegislash greeted.

"Aw. I thought that you were a Grimm to fight." Talonflame complained.

"For your sakes I'm glad we're not."

"We? Is someone with you?" Yang asked.

"My apologies, I was found by your comrade. Excuse me for one moment." Aegislash slipped back into shadow and went back to where she came.

"Your teammate is pretty-"

"Weird." Talonflame interrupted.

" _Shady._ " Yang punned. "Eh, eh."

Talonflame groaned and pushed his wing over his face. "If you do that again I'm leaving you to die."

Footsteps were heard as over the rocks Yang's partner appeared with Aegislash at her side.

"Yang!" Blake cried concerned, as she ran over to her. She saw her bruise and went wide eyed. "What happened?!"

"I'm fine Blake really. I just hurt my leg badly when I fell after saving tweetie bird over here!" Yang explained.

"That's it! I hate you as well now! And since your friend is here, I'M LEAVING!" Talonflame shouted.

Aegislash confronted Talonflame. "Do not be a fool Talonflame! We are in unfamiliar territory, and our unit is divided. We must stick together if we are to survive."

"And who came up with that idea? Her?!" Talonflame pointed his wing to Blake. "Maybe _they_ do but _we_ were born in the wild! We can do this on our own, and Kai is out there don't you want to find him?"

"You're not the only ones who survived out here." Blake corrected. "I'm used to living outside of the kingdoms and the only reason that I have made it this long was my ability to adapt, and working with other people! If you go out there, then you may die and who will go after Kai then?!"

Talonflame opened his beak before looking down growling. "You people really want me to hate you, don't you?"

"Do not take it personally Lady Blake. The fact that he has reacted this way is because you make an excellent point." Aegislash elaborated.

"DON'T YOU START!"

"Still birdo over there makes a good point we should try and- URGH!" Yang tried to stand up but as soon as she applied pressure on her leg she sat back down in pain.

"Your leg needs to rest if you want it to get better." Blake suggested. "We're better off staying here for now, the terrain will make it more difficult for Grimm to reach us so this is our safest point for now."

Yang sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I still don't like any of this." Talonflame complained. "Why not send me and Aegislash out for a bit to scout the area to find people?"

"We already performed that duty Talonflame, on the way here." Aegislash answered.

"But if you really want to find people then there's something that you can help us with." Blake suggested.

Talonflame turned away. "… I'm listening."

* * *

A rocky bank cut through the forest, as a stream of clear water rushed by. Greninja rushed over and put his entire head in.

"Oh, that is refreshing." Greninja gurgled.

Ruby put her rucksack down and got onto her knees next to Greninja. She cupped her hands and picked some water up before drinking it. "It doesn't taste weird. And it's cold."

"Less talking more drinking." Greninja gurgled as Ruby looked at him oddly.

"Don't you need to breathe?"

Greninja pointed at himself. "Water type. I may not be able to live in it, but my lungs can hold enough air for several hours." Ruby shrugged and took another drink when Greninja suddenly shot up and took a deep breath. "Unless of course you forget to take a breath before you go in head first, and waste the air you do have talking."

"You're really cool you know." Ruby admired.

"Why thank you Ruby. Not enough people get that these days, they tend to call me annoying. Me. Annoying."

"It's kind of weird. I was nervous about making friends at Beacon, I never would have thought that I'd be one with a talking ninja frog."

"You don't say."

The area was quiet and peaceful as Greninja took a deep breath and put his head in the river again. Ruby got some more water in her hands but hesitated, she let the water fall through her fingers and dried her hands on her skirt.

"You were wrong earlier. When you said 'Rose sisters', Rose is only my last name, my mom's name. Yang is named after our dad." Ruby corrected.

"Huh, and your dad's cool with that?" Greninja asked.

"Yeah he is…" Ruby trailed off and Greninja raised his head out of the water.

"Why do I get the feeling that this is going somewhere serious?"

Ruby suddenly got re-acquainted with reality. "What? Oh, it's nothing. I just wanted to correct you that's all. We should probably get going soon and-"

"We're alone." Greninja interrupted.

"Huh?"

"In this forest. No one else is here, if you want to say something I'll be the only one who'll here it."

Ruby remained silent then took a deep breath. "Do you think I'm good at being a leader?"

"Well I don't think I'm the best guy to ask but yeah, you don't seem like a screw up to me. Why do you ask?"

"Well we're back here where me, Yang and the others became a team and it's got me thinking about what's happened since we formed."

"Okay."

"How I wake everyone up with a whistle, and organize our timetables."

"Good, good."

"But then I thought about Blake running away and me not being able to find her." Ruby started to sob.

"Uh huh, uh… Oh." Greninja realized.

"And then Weiss talked about her past and I couldn't comfort her… And then when Yang got taken captive… I couldn't do anything! If it wasn't for you-"

"Stop right there Ruby! You're just making yourself upset."

"And you just saved me now! I can't help my team… I can't help myself…"

"This has been on your mind for a while now hasn't it?" Greninja added.

Ruby nodded. "Before you and Kai came here Weiss confronted me about it and I even talked to Ozpin. And I tried to get better, but over the past couple of days I realized just how unprepared I really am…"

Ruby slumped to the ground and Greninja exhaled heavily, rubbing the back of his head in thought.

"Kai lost his first serious battle you know." Greninja stated getting Ruby to look at him. "Would you consider him a bad leader?"

Ruby sniffed. "Well he looks after all of you so, no."

"Well back when it was only me and Talonflame; or I guess Fletchling as he was called back then. Kai went up against this powerful trainer called a Gym leader and we got creamed. For the next few hours afterward, me and Fletchling; we argued and argued, worse than anything you've seen. Then Kai showed up and we could both tell he'd been crying from his red eyes and runny nose." Greninja turned to Ruby. "Can you guess what he said to us next?"

"Did he tell you to stop arguing?" Ruby asked as Greninja shook his head.

"I don't think I'll ever forget it. He said: 'I'm so sorry that you two had to get stuck with a trainer as bad as me. You got hurt because I wasn't prepared and you two deserve better.' And in that moment Fletchling and I we… We stopped arguing. We just spent hours blaming each other and Kai this entire his time was bawling his eyes out when neither of us blamed him for anything. And I think that's what makes you and him good leaders. You two aren't the strongest, or the smartest… But you care the most. And I think that's most important, and that makes your team the luckiest in the world. Besides everyone makes mistakes so don't get held up on the past few days, move on already." Greninja stretched in place and picked up Ruby's rucksack. "Come on let's get moving, I'll carry the supplies. Also, important question… Did you bring marshmallows?"

"Hey Greninja." Ruby said with a much more positive tone. "Thank you. You really are cool."

Greninja shrugged. "I know. You didn't answer my question by the way."

"In their own special pocket with biscuits and chocolate fudge."

"Okay forget the kindness thing! This is what makes you the best leader in the world!" Greninja and Ruby laughed when a Beowolf appeared out of nowhere and charged at Ruby. "Ruby look out!"

Before Ruby could react, a white blur jumped from the forest and stabbed the Beowolf in the throat, killing it and making it dissolves into the stream.

"You really need to watch your surroundings better Ruby." Weiss critiqued.

"That has been a problem today." Ruby admitted as Weiss helped her up.

"Encouragement isn't exactly your forte is it ice queen." Greninja stated. Weiss ignored him and focused on Ruby.

"So Weiss how did you find us?" Ruby asked.

"Your aura spiked suddenly." Lucario answered as he joined the group, his paws mysteriously behind his back.

"Great now we have two critics to tell us how badly we did." Greninja complained.

"That is not important right now. Miss Rose you were distressed, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm better now." Ruby admitted.

"Good because right now we can't afford any powerful emotions, our lives depend on it."

"Uh what?"

"Ruby do you ever pay attention in class?" Weiss berated.

"Can we get a little context Mr I can do anything and Mrs better than you?" Greninja asked.

Lucario stepped forward. "The creatures of Grimm lack aura as such I cannot track them. So, I have asked Miss Schnee to inform me of any ways we can control Grimm encounters, her response was certainly… Informative."

"As any Huntsman or Huntress should know; Grimm are drawn by negativity above all else." Weiss started to explain. "Sadness, anger, fear, all of these can draw Grimm to you. That's probably why one tried to attack Ruby just now."

"So, the only way to avoid them is to become emotionless robots… Looks like you two were born for this job." Greninja commented.

"Hey! I am not emotionless." Weiss defended.

"In this scenario that may be a compliment." Lucario stated before turning to Greninja seriously walking forward. "Greninja I need you to calm yourself down."

"Look Lucario I get that you're concerned but don't worry I-" Greninja started to say.

"Greninja I need you to calm yourself right now and brace yourself. Please." Lucario repeated seriously.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby you may want to calm down too." Weiss suggested.

"Okay you two why are you being weird, if you don't answer I'm only gonna get more wound up." Greninja stated.

Lucario looked down sadly. "While we were trying to find the others Miss Schnee and I came across something distressing."

"Come on Lucario you know me. I can handle it."

"No Greninja. You can't handle this…" Lucario put his paws in front of him revealing a hidden possession… Kai's plain grey, black striped fedora.

The riverbank was in complete silence with the only exception being the sound of running water. Greninja slowly reached for the hat and Lucario gave it to him to hold in his front feet.

* * *

Sun and Kai were passing through a thicket of trees. Sun led the way while Kai remained reserved constantly breathing in and out as if he was blowing bubbles.

"Kai I can make do with you lagging behind but you're freaking me out with that mouth thing you're doing." Sun commented.

"This is my breathing exercise. It helps me stay calm and rational because when you lose your family and your most valued possession at the same time, you go a little on edge." Kai explained tensely.

"Well you don't sound calm so it doesn't seem to be working."

"Then imagine what I'd be like if I didn't do this."

"Whatever man. I understand why you're upset about your Poké thingies but what's so special about your hat?"

"First of all, it's Pokémon." Kai corrected. "Secondly… It's complicated… Personal."

"Well it can't be that complicated: family heirloom, precious memento, really expensive."

"And more… Maybe not that last one I got it way too long ago to remember the cost."

"See, we're getting somewhere it's old!"

Kai inhaled heavily before exhaling for a long period of time. "Sun, I mean this in the nicest possible way. PLEASE- Be quiet!"

Sun put his hand on Kai's arm. "Look man you don't need to worry we're going to find everyone I promise."

Kai sighed. "You're right." Kai said much more calmly. "Sorry for snapping at you."

"It's cool we all get stressed from time to time. Just last week my buddy Neptune-" Kai suddenly thrust his arm out in front of Sun. "What are you-?"

"Shh! Didn't you hear that?" Kai interrupted.

"Hear what?"

"The sound of a heavy footprint going into the dirt with a squelch and crunch, and light breathing."

"You must be imagining things."

"Yeah maybe I- There it is again! It's closer this time! Wait there's more than one!"

"You sure you're not still stressed. And what is up with your eyes?" Sun looked deep into Kai's mysterious glowing blue eyes.

"Look you've gotta trust me- what's wrong with my eyes?"

The sound of branches shifting came close and Kai suddenly clutched his head in intense pain falling into Sun knocking him down to the ground. Seconds later three black and white wheels of death just narrowly went over their back. Kai stayed on the ground clutching his head as Sun got up to see the wheels were Grimm.

The Grimm bared resemblance to boar with them being small, quadruped and having a snout and tusks. They each had four orange eyes visible through their bone-like masks and had bone-like plating over their backs.

"Huh evil pigs, cool." Sun commented.

"No! Not cool! They're trying to kill us!" Kai shouted struggling.

"I haven't seen these Grimm before what do you expect me to do?"

Kai got onto his knees in an instant and he stared at the Grimm. Through his blue vision he eyed every part of them as information came flooding back to him in an instant.

"Boarbatusk. Primarily attacks from the front with: head charges, ramming its tusks or rolling its entire body."

The Grimm stepped closer as Sun pulled out his staff. "That's great and all but do you know how to kill it?"

Kai's eyes remained focus and in his vision, he saw the Grimm's flesh lighten up.

 _'_ _This makes no sense, it's bodies glowing! But the bone plates aren't glowing. Wait-'_ Kai thought.

"Their underside doesn't have any armor! Aim for its gut!" Kai ordered.

Sun smirked. "Yes sir!"

The three Grimm charged at Sun and he ran forward knocking away the leader with his staff as if he was getting a home run. He started spinning on the ground getting in-between the other two Grimm and swung his staff at their legs knocking them on their sides before swiping at them with his staff at their underside creating a small explosion as he did knocking the Grimm away killing them.

"See piece of cake." Sun congratulated himself.

"Not yet, you missed one." Kai said as he got up, his eyes still glowing blue. "I can hear it coming, it's using its roll attack which protects its flesh under itself so we can't kill it that way."

"Any ideas?"

Kai focused his concentration and narrowed his eyes. "… Just one. Hand me your staff."

"Sure, don't scratch it."

Sun handed Kai his staff and Kai spun it in place before pointing if forward. "Twenty seconds…" He murmured. "Fifteen seconds… Ten… Five…" A loud crunching sound broke through the trees as the Grimm rolled into the area like a wrecking ball. Kai impulsively jumped to the left and thrusted Sun's staff diagonally in-between the Boarbatusk's tusks, causing its tusks to snap off and making it fly out of control crashing into a tree dazed. Kai ran forward and raised his right hand catching the staff as it fell from the sky and jumped in the air skewering the Grimm making it squeal as Kai lifted it up on the staff while it disintegrated.

"Anyone for pork roasted on a spit?" Kai joked. He slammed the weapon against a tree causing the rest of the Grimm to turn to ash and disappear as he threw it back to Sun. "Returned without a scratch." Kai's eyes went back to normal and he went light headed falling to the ground, Kai lay there dazed as Sun stood over him.

"Are you feeling okay man?" Sun asked.

"I'm lying on the ground after experiencing a sudden headache and fighting monsters trying to kill us. I'm peachy!" Kai answered sarcastically.

"Well get up then, we've got ground to cover." Sun lowered his hand and Kai grabbed it to help pull himself up.

"Thanks, but I think I'm gonna need a minute in the dark."

"Sure, and when you're finished you can use your semblance like you did just now and we'll find everyone in no time."

Kai rubbed the back of his head. "… Semblance?"

"Well what else would you call what you did just now?"

"An unfortunately timed headache and trainers' intuition."

"So, the glowing eyes?"

"You're just seeing things."

"Okay how about this, when have you had these headaches? You said it earlier today."

"When I fought an Ursa Major, sparring against Weiss and when we fought against the White Fang. What's it matter?" Kai asked annoyed.

"And what happened immediately after you got them."

Kai dropped his arms unimpressed and thought back. "Well I managed to punch the Ursa in it's throat to let me go… Then I think I avoided Weiss attacking me… And there was this member that Lucario and Greninja took out who was right behind me…"

"Notice anything similar about the incidents?"

Kai suddenly perked up. "It happened when I was in danger." He murmured.

"And just now you-"

"Were about to get ambushed by the Grimm!" Kai then went into thought. "So, let's hypothetically say this is my semblance. What is it and why do I keep getting headaches?"

"You think it's like a danger sensor?"

"No there's more to it than that." Kai continued. "There's more than headaches: my vision goes… Blue and blurry, the world seems bright and really loud like someone turned the settings up- like on a TV. When I fought the Grimm, I was getting total recall and after a while I got used to how it felt."

"That is pretty weird." Sun commented.

"Not helping."

"Well why not try to activate it again?"

"By doing what? Stepping off a cliff? Walking around with my eyes closed? Holding a loaded gun to my head?"

"Well…"

"Please tell me you weren't actually considering getting me to do one of those things."

"I don't know, closing your eyes doesn't seem that bad an idea." Kai gave Sun an annoyed look. "Come on just give it a go."

Kai gave an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes, he breathed in and out slowly before going completely still. Sun carefully walked up to Kai holding his staff out ready to hit him from behind.

"Wait I'm getting something." Kai interrupted.

"Like what? You hear something? Sense some imminent attack behind you?" Sun whispered as he pulled his staff back.

"More like smell something… It's sweet…" Kai gasped and ran forward getting out of Sun's range making him miss his swing as the momentum made him fall on the ground with a thud. Kai ran through the trees of the forest until he came to a stop and opened his eyes. "Slurpuff."

The meringue Pokémon turned her head and gave her goofy grin jumping into Kai's arms.

"Kai parfume!" She cried in appreciation. "I smelt your parfume for miles but the trees kept making me lose myself in your parfume trail."

"No need to explain, it's just good to see you. Funny thing is for once I found you by smelling your parfume."

"If I may ask a parfume Kai parfume. Why are your seeing parfumes glowing with parfume?"

"… What?" Slurpuff handed Kai her Poké ball and he stared into it seeing a faint reflection of himself, and his glowing blue eyes as they faded to their regular brown. "They really do glow…"

Sun made it through clearing panting out of breath. "Way to ditch me."

"Sorry but I found a good friend." Kai turned showing Sun, Slurpuff in his arms. "Sun this is Slurpuff. Slurpuff this is-"

Slurpuff cut Kai off by sniffing abruptly. "Mm. Banana parfume."

"Banana parfume?" Sun stated confused.

"That's her nickname for you." Kai stated.

"Sweet, I always wanted a cool nickname."

"And Sun, I think I owe you a thank you. I think I understand what my semblance is now."

"Well what is it?"

"GAH! Listen to my parfume!" Slurpuff interrupted. "I smell a strong waft of Talonflame parfume coming from high in the rocky parfumes."

"You do!" Kai beamed.

"Which one was Talonflame?" Sun asked curiously.

"The bird."

"Oh. Him."

"Well which way is it coming from?" Kai asked as Slurpuff pointed up with her stubby arms. Kai and Sun looked up to see a faint trail of smoke.

* * *

From the rocky summit Aegislash was focusing her single eye on a pile of sticks and grass creating a thin trail of smoke into the air. Talonflame was brooding on top of a rock pile looking out to the forest below and Blake was tending to Yang's leg.

"There. How does that feel?" Blake asked as she tightened a bandage.

Yang stretched her leg now covered in bandages and a piece of wood to make a makeshift splint.

"Better thanks. Still can't walk properly though." Yang answered before sighing.

"What's wrong? If it's uncomfortable I don't mind doing it again."

"No Blake it's not that it's… You wouldn't understand."

"Yang… After what's happened with me I know that even if you don't think your teammates will understand you. It's better to talk to them instead of ignoring the problem."

Yang looked at Blake sincerely and then looked to the ground. "I'm just… Not used to being the person who needs to be looked after."

"Okay, I'm sure a lot of people are independent."

"It's not just that Blake." Yang faced Blake seriously. "I've always been the one looking after Ruby. Dad was on missions and I was left alone to protect my little sister, I've sort of gotten used to the idea that I need to protect everyone. But recently I've been useless."

"Yang, you're not useless."

"Then how do you explain what happened at the docks!" Yang shouted silencing Blake. Yang realized what she said and looked down again. "… I'm sorry Blake it's just. In that moment I was helpless and that let the bad guys get away, and now look at me… I can't even walk."

"Can't or won't?!" Talonflame judged.

"Talonflame now is not the time." Aegislash stated.

"I've been keeping my beak shut for a while but some things need to be said!" Talonflame flew to Yang and looked her in the eye. "The only reason we're still up on this rock pile is because of you!"

"That is not true Talonflame and you know it." Aegislash berated. "This area holds strategic advantage in terms of: Grimm population, vision of the area and-"

"And what?! In case you haven't noticed we've been here for hours and no one's showed up yet!"

"This process takes time!"

"You're right it does take time! Do you know what I could have done in this time? Fly around!"

"You can't go out there alone!" Blake reminded.

"Well I don't have to, I know Fly remember! That means I can leave with someone and if things go bad, if we're out too long, or if we- FIND SOMEONE! Then I can fly back here in less than a minute, _with_ someone! So why haven't we?!"

"Because what happens if a Grimm shows up while we're away."

"I thought this place didn't have any Grimm."

"It's not a guarantee."

"Well I'm sorry but haven't we been trained to fight them? I can, you can, Aegislash can, which just leaves her! I bet if she could walk we would have sent out a search party by now, because you could trust her enough to fend for herself!" The area went awkwardly silent as Talonflame smiled sinisterly. "What's wrong? Cat got your-"

A loud clang interrupted Talonflame when Aegislash slammed her shield to the ground.

"You! Me! Over there! Right now!" She ordered.

Talonflame growled. "Fine. Fine. Don't take too long I've got brooding to do." Talonflame flew further away as Aegislash turned to the two partners.

"On behalf of our Sire's family I deeply apologize for Talonflame's behavior. While it is understandable that he is angry right now, he has no right taking it out on you." Aegislash apologized before floating to Talonflame.

"He's right you know." Yang moaned.

"Don't say that. He just has a bad attitude, you're not the problem he is!" Blake explained.

"Before you arrived here you were looking around the area for the others, but as soon as you saw me injured you stopped what you were doing to look after me."

"Yang that's different."

"That still doesn't make it any less true."

Meanwhile Aegislash was staring at Talonflame in complete silence.

"Look me in the eye Talonflame." She ordered.

"No! It's creepy and weird looking." He argued.

"Look me in the eye when I am talking to you!" Talonflame grunted and looked at Aegislash's sole eye. "You are going to apologize to Lady Yang and Lady Blake immediately."

"For what?! Speaking my mind!"

"For that as well as many other foolish actions!"

"Come on Aegislash you'd really prefer to be up here waiting for nothing, rather than down there looking for Kai."

"Lady Blake carries my ball as Lady Yang holds yours. I am indebted to her."

"You weren't traded! She doesn't have the right number of badges! You don't belong to her!"

"I never said I was! I said I am indebted to her! She found my ball and were it not for her, I would still be lost in the forest! On my honor as a knight I must accompany her until I am returned to Sire."

"First of all! You're not a knight you're a floating sword! Second! The only reason that you are still here is because of honour! HONOUR!"

"Exactly. Have you none yourself Talonflame, is that not what your talk of strength is? How are you being honourable punishing a weakened ally like Lady Yang?!"

"I am not punishing her! I am helping her!"

"How?"

Talonflame paused for a moment and turned back to Blake and Yang smirking. "That's how."

Aegislash looked and saw Yang trying to stand with Blake supporting her.

"You don't have to do this." Blake insisted.

"And prove that hot head right. Not a chance." Yang replied determined. She took a couple of steps forward before falling to one side, getting caught by Blake.

"Don't worry I've got you."

"Heh, thanks."

Aegislash turned back to Talonflame. "Imposing oneself as an enemy to force a positive response. I shouldn't be surprised that you would come up with such an idea."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Talonflame responded. "But since she's up now, we can get moving already!"

"Patience is a virtue Talonflame. We will wait a little longer."

"SERIOUSLY! SHE'S WALKING NOW!"

"Recovering would be more accurate. And you are still going to apologise."

"OR WHAT?!" Talonflame responded as his body started glowing with embers. Aegislash turned to him with a serious stare as a deathly aura permeated around her extinguishing Talonflame.

"That is what I thought fool. In the meantime, we need more smoke."

Talonflame sighed. "Just make it quick."

Aegislash reached out and plucked two of Talonflame's feathers making him wince.

"There. Was that so bad?"

"It still takes away some of my HP."

"Hmph. If one complains about losing HP, then one should not battle in the first place." Aegislash floated away to the smoking pile and rubbed the feathers together creating a flame, Aegislash placed the feathers in the pile and spread it out just enough to make it smoke without lighting the pile completely on fire. Aegislash looked back at Talonflame to see him bowing his head in shame at Yang and Blake before looking out at the forest.

 _'_ _For Talonflame's sake I hope you arrive soon Sire.'_ Aegislash thought.

Unbeknownst to her under the rocks further down was a large nest that had large black feathers littered nearby as an ominous cawing was heard in the distance.

* * *

 **So all the groups have been set up. I'm curious what pair/group is your favourite and why since one of the main goals with this arc was to give Kai and his team more interactions with the RWBY cast.**

 **Either way until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	17. Chapter 16: Unified

**-Late Afternoon, Emerald Forest-**

 _'_ _Why am I doing this?'_ Kai thought as he was climbing up a rocky wall. His vision was fixed above him to see Sun and Slurpuff waiting higher up on a flat rocky surface.

"Come on Kai, hurry up. We've been here for ages." Sun commented.

"Well I'm sorry that I don't have Mankey like athletics!" Kai apologised sarcastically. "And what do you mean we? You climbed up here and Slurpuff clung to you for dear life!"

"Exactly! I got here before you and I was carrying someone!" Sun defended as Slurpuff nodded in agreement.

"Well I'm carrying a backpack!"

"Just quit your complaining and climb this last bit. Just don't look down."

"Aside from making me more likely to look down from saying that, I am physically incapable of doing that right now anyway."

"See! That's the spirit!"

Kai breathed out unenthusiastically as he reached for an available foothold. _'Not even the Cyllage city gym was this bad.'_

Slurpuff looked down at her trainer sniffing before looking behind her sniffing more intensely.

"You okay there little guy, you need to go to the bathroom or something?" Sun asked.

Slurpuff sniffed intensely. "Grimm parfume…" She muttered.

"Grimm?!"

A howl echoed as a large pack of Beowolf's prowled towards them. Sun was ready to fend them off when Slurpuff prodded at his leg.

"Leave their parfume to me. Kai parfume still needs help getting to our parfume level."

"You sure you can handle it?"

Slurpuff snorted. "Just smell my parfume." One of the Beowolf's lunged at Slurpuff biting the top of her head. Slurpuff remained unfazed and started to glow. " **Dazzling Parfume!** " Slurpuff released an intense flash of light incinerating the Grimm on top of her and killing some unfortunate ones close by.

"Wow." Sun admired.

"Sun, what's going on?" Kai asked cautiously.

"What? Oh, uh nothing! Your friend is just… Going to the bathroom."

"I just heard ' _Dazzling Parfume_ ' and saw a bright light, she's fighting something isn't she?"

"Um… Yeah."

"Oh, that's fine."

"You sure?"

" **Dazzling Parfume!** " Slurpuff emitted another bright flash causing Grimm to whine as they perished.

A larger Beowolf clawed towards Slurpuff growling. It was distinct, covered in more bone-like armor and spines. It had a more angular skull, larger teeth and sharp triangular ears.

Slurpuff sniffed. "Mm. Your parfume is much stronger than the rest of your parfumes." Slurpuff took a deep breath. " **Flame Parfume!** "

"Kai what's a Flame Parfume?" Sun asked slightly frightened.

" **PARFUME!** " Slurpuff released a large cone of flames from her mouth scorching the Grimm in a torrent of flames.

"NEVER MIND!" Sun answered shocked as Kai smiled from below ascending slowly.

The Grimm appeared inside of the flames and slashed Slurpuff to the side knocking her away. Slurpuff quickly got back onto her feet and spread out her arms, the Grimm charging at her on all fours.

" **Dazzling Parfume!** " Slurpuff used Dazzling Gleam again making the Grimm whine. The light faded and the Grimm was standing over her slashing downwards with both of it front legs hitting Slurpuff further back with a cross slash. Slurpuff skidded until the top of her head was hanging over the edge of the rocks, Sun scowled and pulled out his staff.

"No Banana parfume! Kai parfume must arrive safely! My parfume will diffuse for a little while longer!"

"But I-" Sun looked down disappointed but then went over the edge lowering his staff. "Kai grab onto this!"

"Look Sun I know I'm taking a while but give me some time-" Kai tried to explain.

"We don't have time! Your friend is struggling against this powerful Beowolf, and she won't accept my help until you're up her safe!"

"What?" Kai whispered in disbelief. An immense panic flooded him and his eyes started glowing again. He could smell Slurpuff's parfume, hear her panting breath, feel the vibrations of the Grimm clawing its way closer to her. On instinct Kai pushed himself upwards into the air and grasped Sun's staff. "Don't just stand there! Pull me up!"

Slurpuff watched from afar as Sun slowly walked backwards with his staff. The large Beowolf sicked itself at Slurpuff chomping down on the lower half of her body. Slurpuff whimpered in pain and raised her stubby arms above her head forming a bright green light.

"Kai par… No! Kai. Your parfume has brought me immense happiness, thank you…" A large green ball of energy was formed in Slurpuff's arms. Sun brought Kai up and he stared at Slurpuff in the Beowolf's jaw with the ball of green light over her.

"Slurpuff don't do this! If you use that move at that range from there, the force will knock you off the cliff!" Kai warned.

The large Beowolf turned its head at Kai and Sun and growled. Slurpuff gave her goofy smile and thrusted her arms down. " **ENERGY PARFUME!** " The ball of energy was delivered at point blank range blowing up the Grimm's head into nothing, the wind from the attack pushed Slurpuff into the air and she began falling towards the edge of the cliff. Kai's legs began moving on their own without him even thinking, he jumped off the cliff and caught Slurpuff in his arms as the two fell down to the forest.

"KAI!" Sun shouted, he hesitated then groaned. "Hold on!" He shouted as he jumped off the cliff following Kai.

* * *

Greninja walked in complete silence, his attention focused on Kai's hat in between his front feet. Ruby, Weiss and Lucario walked uncomfortably behind him.

"Should we say something?" Ruby asked cautiously.

"I would not recommend it." Lucario answered. "He seems to be calm, perhaps he has not accepted or realised anything yet."

"And we shouldn't try to get him through this?" Weiss stated.

"Under normal circumstances I would agree with you two. However, given our environment I think it's best if we leave Greninja in this state for as long as possible to avoid attracting Grimm."

"I can still hear you, you know." Greninja stated calmly not looking back.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ruby asked sympathetically.

"What did I just say?" Lucario responded to Ruby annoyed.

"Leave her alone Lucario!" Greninja ordered. "I'm fine Ruby just… Thinking."

"Well Greninja I must admit you have been taking this much better than I expected you too."

"Yeah, well I've noticed that you don't seem to have reacted at all."

"Because finding Master's hat does not indicate-" Lucario stopped himself.

"No please, finish your thought Lucario." Lucario remained silent. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

The group continued walking in an awkward atmosphere.

"Sooo. I met Noivern." Weiss broke the silence.

Greninja stopped in place and looked at Weiss. "Noivern's out of his Poké ball? When did you see him? Where is he?"

"Who's Noivern?" Ruby asked.

"Noivern is the final member of Master's team and our family. The same one Kai described on the way here." Lucario explained.

"You two would get along great." Greninja stated. "You're both the youngest siblings, a little socially awkward- hold it! Weiss when did you see him?"

"He actually saved me and Lucario from this Deathstalker-" Weiss began to answer.

"Wait- wait- wait! Lucario, you knew about this! Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

Lucario turned his head to the side. "It didn't seem important at the time…"

"Not important! He's our brother, and you know how he gets! And why would he just leave if you were there?! Weiss I understand but you, why would he-" Greninja stopped himself and stepped forward looking at Lucario seriously. "You sent him, away didn't you?"

Lucario looked Greninja in the eye. "Yes. But you must understand-"

Greninja raised his front foot and started generating a mass of steaming water.

"Greninja?" Ruby stated cautiously.

"What are you doing? He's your teammate!" Weiss berated.

Lucario got into a defensive stance. "I didn't want to, but Slurpuff gave him a mission! A plan to locate everyone with his enhanced hearing, it was the best decision to-"

"Don't move!" Greninja interrupted as he used Scald, sending a blast of boiling water just over Lucario's shoulder taking out a stalking Beowolf, whining in death. "Did you honestly think I was gonna attack you over Noivern? I don't agree with what you did, but you and I both know he can take care of himself, even if he doesn't think so at times."

Lucario relaxed and the two huntresses let out sighs of relief. "… I apologise for my actions Greninja, I should have told you about Noivern but-"

"You knew he would be fine and Kai's plaguing your mind." Lucario looked at Greninja with a shocked expression. "Yeah here's the thing about emotions Lucario, bottling them up doesn't make them go away. They get worse which is why that Grimm over there was gonna pounce you, say what you will about me but I let my emotions out, I accept and think about them that's why I'm calm. Of course Kai isn't dead, he's out there looking for us, albeit he might be a little testy without this." Lucario closed his eyes and focused. "You know I didn't mean you had to think about it right now."

Lucario acted quickly and turned to face Ruby and Weiss. "Miss Rose! Miss Schnee! Please move one step back on each foot and raise your arms in front of you!"

Ruby did what Lucario asked. "Like this?"

Weiss put her hands to her hips. "And why should we do this?"

Lucario kept his eyes closed and hummed to himself. "Three, two…"

"Why are you counting down?" Weiss asked as faint screams were heard getting louder rapidly. "What's that-" Weiss was suddenly taken down by a fast-moving object, Ruby now held in her arms a confused Kai who also held Slurpuff in his arms (armception).

"… Nice catch…" Kai panted in-between breaths. He looked down to the ground to see Sun lying dazed on top of an unprepared Weiss. "… Well they seem to be getting close." He looked over to see Greninja and Lucario. "… Hey guys. How've you been?"

"Pretty good." Greninja answered. "Spent the day solving emotional problems like a boss. Noivern's out of his ball, figured I should tell you unlike _some people_."

"Really… We should probably find him then." Kai looked at Ruby. "You can drop me now."

"Oh! Right!" Ruby said flustered as she literally dropped him on the ground. "Sorry!"

"It's fine I'm good."

Kai got up and Lucario walked up to him. "Master I-"

Kai raised a hand. "I already know, I missed you too." Lucario looked down and laughed, letting go of his stress.

"Uh hum!" Greninja coughed as he approached with Kai's hat. "I believe this belongs to you."

Kai grabbed the hat quickly and twirled it in his hands. "You didn't panic when I was missing did you?"

"Of course not!" Kai gave him an unconvincing look. "Okay so the first few minutes were a silent rollercoaster of emotions, but I got over it unlike some Pokémon."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lucario stated calmly.

"Don't you lie! We just had a moment!"

Kai smiled and put on his hat. "Well whatever happened at least we managed to find each other."

"About that. Why did you just fall out of the sky?" Ruby asked innocently.

"Because Slurpuff was willingly ready to sacrifice herself to protect me, and I jumped off with her to try and save her. Were it not for us falling to you by chance, we may have died."

Slurpuff nodded and giggled. "In the jaws of the Grimm's parfume. My life's parfume flashed before my eyes as I accepted my parfume's death."

The area was awkwardly silent for several moments. "I suppose that is… One way to relieve your emotions." Lucario stated.

"Or alternatively it hasn't hit them yet. I give it ten minutes before one of them has an existential crisis." Greninja argued.

* * *

It was Yang's turn to watch the smoke as she sat with her hands on her face puffing out air bored. Talonflame was brooding as usual and Aegislash was floating next to Blake.

"Is something on your mind Lady Blake?" Aegislash asked.

"Just thinking about the others that's all." Blake answered quietly.

"I see… I must confess, I am starting to feel the same way as Talonflame."

"We're not splitting up." Blake answered bitterly.

"As you wish milady."

Blake looked at Aegislash surprised. "That's it… You agree with me just like that."

"I am indebted to you Lady Blake. I trust in your judgement."

"That's not what I mean; do you agree with me?"

"I fail to see the importance, but since you asked I don't. We have spent enough time already doing nothing. Sending a search party even for less than an hour might at the very least, raise moral."

"Then why are you agreeing with me?"

"As I have said, I am indebted to you and will follow your judgement over my own… I trust you."

Blake pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Trust…"

"May I speak freely milady?" Aegislash asked.

"Sure." Blake answered curiously.

"If I may be presumptuous I believe that Lady Yang isn't the only one recovering from yesterday. You too seem suffering."

Blake sighed. "Now isn't the time to talk about it. Especially with you- no offence."

"None taken milady. If you do not wish to talk I shall abide and drop the subject."

Aegislash turned away from Blake and Blake narrowed her eyes. "You really don't care?"

"I never said that. But you do not wish to talk about it, I will not force you to do something uncomfortable Lady Blake. Though if I may ask a different question; why did you become a Huntress?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Milady it is improper and impolite to answer a question with a question. Answer mine first and I shall return the favour."

Blake looked down in thought. "There's too much wrong with this world. Someone has to try and stop it."

"And Huntresses have the authority? Forgive me for my ignorance but that statement seems grossly inaccurate."

"What do you mean?"

"From what I have gathered Huntsman and Huntresses are very similar to knights of old. Members of the public training themselves for years in the art of combat to serve under a greater power whether that be the monarchy or the democracy. Yet knights have no power of their own to use, instead they are used by said greater power they choose to follow. If you truly wanted to change the world wouldn't a position of authority such as a politician be more fitting of yourself."

"I- I never thought of it that way."

"More confusing still is the restriction you place upon yourself."

"Restriction?"

"Your disguise as it were. Why train in a profession that requires you to hide one's true identity."

"I don't have to, I just want to avoid any unnecessary attention."

"I see…" Aegislash paused for a moment.

"You didn't answer my question yet. Why did you want to know these things about me?"

"Ah yes. My apologies milady, I just wanted to see if my theory about you is correct."

"What theory?" Blake asked suspiciously.

"That the life you have chosen is one to punish yourself for your crimes."

Blake went wide-eyed in response standing up. "What?!"

"I apologise if I have offended you that has not been my intention. But if it makes you feel better, I am undecided."

"Why would you think I'm punishing myself?"

"You hide one's identity, you put yourself in position to serve the world you think is unjust, you have recently learned that your previous allegiance was misplaced and as such one might feel guilt for past actions."

"My trust wasn't misplaced in the White Fang. They just… Changed."

"And that is one of the reasons why I am yet undecided. It would be foolish not to consider all the facts."

Blake settled down and sat on the rock again. "And what are the other facts?"

"Your allegiance to your allies to start. Your treatment of Lady Yang just now is proof of that fact. As well as your sense of justice… From personal experience, one with justice like yourself would do well in their majesties court."

"Well it's a shame life isn't like stories of righteous kingdoms and holy knights."

"Perhaps not now, but I can assure you that the past was similar. Quite similar indeed."

"You seem very into this talk of knights. Why do you act like that?"

"Lady Blake… You have a past that you do not wish to divulge into, as do I. Let's leave it at that for the time being."

"All right… This chat has been, oddly nice."

"When one chats about one's lifestyle, it can bring out one's passion. Perhaps that passion will decide if you are truly punishing yourself."

Blake felt odd talking to Aegislash. She couldn't tell if she was being insulted or humbled, yet she found herself enjoying the company. Talonflame meanwhile was scanning the area below cautiously noticing an odd-looking nest surrounded by black feathers.

"Hey bow lady!" Talonflame shouted.

Blake sighed before getting up. "If this is about leaving the answer is still no."

"It's not about that!" Talonflame turned his head to her. "Just why is this spot so safe from Grimm?!"

"What's it matter to you?"

"Just answer the question!"

Blake scowled and her bow was seen twitching. "It's because the rocks are steep which makes it difficult for Grimm to climb up here."

"That's great and all but there's one problem with that!"

"And what is that?"

Talonflame looked down below to see a darkness rising.

"What if the Grimm have wings?"

Blake looked confused until a realisation hit her, on instinct Talonflame flapped his wings and flew backwards high into the air above Blake and Aegislash.

"Where are you-?"

" **CAAAAAAAWW!** " A loud bird cry cut Blake off as an extremely large Grimm crashed through the rock where Talonflame once stood.

The Grimm was an avian that had features resembling those of several other bird species such as condors and ravens. Like other creatures of Grimm, it has a mask-like white bony structure overlaying the upper front of its head and four glowing red eyes, two on each side of its head. The headpiece also includes a dorsal spine or fin, reminiscent of that on the heads of condors and some prehistoric pterosaurs and interestingly on each of it's wings were two clawed fingers.

"I KNEW IT!" Talonflame bragged.

"My word." Aegislash awed.

"It's a Nevermore!" Blake identified.

"Uh oh." Yang stated.

The Grimm screeched as Talonflame flew at it head first. " **Fly!** " Talonflame collided with its mask creating a blue explosion, slightly jerking it back as Talonflame flew lower to the ground. The Nevermore recovered opening its beak to crunch Talonflame.

" **King's Shield!** " Aegislash appeared in front of Talonflame in Shield stance creating a hexagon filled barrier blocking the attack. The Nevermore pulled back its beak as a draining blue aura fell over its body lowering its attacking strength.

"I had it covered!" Talonflame argued.

"Clearly not!" Aegislash argued back looking behind her to see Blake and Yang. "Lady Blake please escort Lady Yang away! Talonflame and myself will hold the beast off for as long as we can!"

"We're not leaving you!" Yang disagreed.

"Just beat it already! We can't fight properly with you hanging back as dead weight!" Talonflame shouted. " **Acrobatics!** " Talonflame assaulted the Grimm from several angles as it tried to swat Talonflame away with its claws.

"Lady Blake! I have put my faith in you up until this point! Please return the favour and follow my judgement this one time! PLEASE!" Aegislash compelled as the Nevermore pecked Talonflame out of the sky, knocking him onto the rocks.

"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"

Aegislash turned to the Grimm as it opened its beak cawing. Aegislash narrowed her eye and went into Blade Forme making her sides glow yellow as she jumped at the Grimm and used Slash against its feathery chest. The Grimm swung its wing at her and she shifted to Shield Forme to use King's Shield blocking the attack lowering its attack again as Talonflame flew in using Flame Charge against the creatures' throat before flying around its head glowing orange from a speed boost. Yang could only watch as Blake put her arms around her.

"Blake?" Yang said concerned.

"We need to go! It's not safe here anymore!" Blake declared.

"We can't just leave them! I can do this!"

"I CAN'T!" Blake put her head on Yang's arm. "I can't risk letting you get hurt, we need to get help."

"But what about them getting hurt! We're supposed to protect people."

Aegislash attempted to use King's Shield again but failed, Talonflame used Acrobatics and the Nevermore slashed upwards and downwards quickly imitating Aerial Ace knocking Aegislash back. Her Shield Forme and Steel typing made it barely affect her, but she looked at the Grimm with an annoyed stare.

"LEAVE HER ALONE! **Steel Wing!** " Talonflame slammed his left wing against the Grimm's mask, it pecked at Talonflame but missed. Aegislash took her turn and went into Blade Forme, her body becoming metallic.

" **Iron Head!** " Aegislash's her cross-guard widened and she charged head first at the Grimm striking at the same spot where Talonflame hit. "One more! **Shadow Sneak!** " She cried disappearing into darkness then reappearing as a giant shadow sword as big as the Nevermore's own shadow, stabbing it in the back as Talonflame flew down from overhead.

" **Flame Charge!** " Talonflame burst into flames striking the Grimm in its chest before it flew backwards gaining distance from the Pokémon duo. The Nevermore cawed loudly and flapped its wings in front of itself releasing a storm of razor sharp feathers. Aegislash and Talonflame were both caught in the attack, Aegislash resisted the attack but took more damage than earlier due to her weakened defences while Talonflame took the attack head on. Feathers passed them and headed towards Blake and Yang. Blake narrowed her eyes, and she began leaping with Yang in her arms from side to side to avoid the attack. The feathers stopped and Yang went to a knee.

"Yang!" Blake yelled concerned.

"It's fine! We just moved too fast, I'll be fine in a minute!" Yang explained.

The Nevermore flew at the couple and Blake got ready to make copies of herself when Aegislash in front of them in Shield Forme. " **King's Shield!** " Aegislash summoned her barrier however the Grimm was smart enough to avoid striking it and halted its attack.

"Lady Blake! What is the meaning of this treason?!" Aegislash shouted annoyed.

"Treason?" Blake stated confused.

"I understand that you may not trust me as I have trusted you. That is fair. However, did it not come to your mind that you and Lady Yang may perish if you stay! Or do Huntresses merely lack a survival instinct?!"

"You're one to talk! You don't even have aura!" Yang argued.

"Lady Yang I am not suffering from a performance limiting injury!"

"So, if I could walk, you would have us fight with you?!"

"With the greatest of pleasures, I could bestow!" The Nevermore raised its beak to peck at the small group and Aegislash prepared to block the attack. Suddenly Talonflame struck the Grimm in the side of the head with Fly causing its attack to miss. "I will not repeat myself again! Lady Blake please escort Lady Yang to safety!"

Blake looked at Aegislash and then at Yang before getting a determined expression. "No! We're staying!"

"What?!"

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about." Yang supported.

"Lady Blake please reconsider-!"

"We're not leaving the two of you to sacrifice yourselves on our benefit!" Blake declared. "We're Huntresses, and our job is to take down the creatures of Grimm!"

"Injured or not injured. No excuses." Yang added as she brought out her gauntlets, and Blake grabbed her sheathed sword.

Aegislash sighed. "Such fools." Aegislash went into Blade Forme and prepared to attack, when a purple beam flew past them exploding as it made contact with the Nevermore.

"What was that?" Blake asked.

A loud flapping was heard from behind them as Noivern landed in front of them.

"Am I late?" Noivern stated confidently. Yang and Blake aimed their weapons at him and he crawled up in fear. "Aah! I'm sorry for sounding cocky! Please don't hurt me!"

"Whaaa-?" Yang whispered confused as the two huntresses lowered their weapons.

"Noivern? Your timing is impeccable but how did you find us?" Aegislash commented.

"It was kind of hard to not hear Talonflame's shouting. As well as you know… All the fighting." Noivern explained.

"Wait… That's one of Kai's Pokémon?! It's a dragon! Dragons don't exist!" Blake cried out surprised.

"Well I'm standing here and I'm pretty sure I'm a dragon sooo… I think you might be wrong."

"Cool. Can you breathe fire?" Yang admired.

"I prefer pressurised sound waves."

Talonflame flew down to meet them. "Noivern?!"

"Hi big bro. Are you alright?"

"Are you kidding?! Best fight I've had in ages!" His head turned to Blake and Yang. "What are you two still doing here? Beat it!"

"They refuse to leave. In fact, they are staying to fight." Aegislash summarized.

"Fine! Great! Whatever! Point and shoot! I'll handle the rest!"

"This is still gonna be difficult with just the five of us." Blake murmured.

"Oh yeah! I may have made a quick stop first to get some help." Noivern interrupted.

Two Water Shuriken's, an Aura Sphere, a large icicle and a red bullet flew passed the groups heads and made contact with the Nevermore, making it screech in anger. The group looked behind them to see: Ruby, Weiss, Sun, Kai, Greninja, Lucario and Slurpuff had just arrived.

"Did ya miss us?!" Greninja greeted.

"You were lucky we were close by when Noivern got us. Gotta say using smoke as a beacon… Pretty crafty." Kai admitted.

"Yeah Team RWBY is back together! … Again!" Ruby cheered.

" **CAAAAAAAWW!** " The Nevermore interrupted preparing to attack.

"Weee might be in trouble." Noivern confessed.

"Perhaps we should save the cheesy reunion cheering until after the giant bird is dead." Sun suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Yang cheered.

Ruby pulled out her scythe aiming it's rifle end at the Nevermore, Weiss summoned a glyph in front of her and put her fingers along her rapier to create a blue mist, Blake pulled her sword from her sheath and put it in gun configuration, Yang got into fighting position raising her gauntlets close to her head, Sun turned his staff into 'gunchucks' and aimed the guns at the Grimm, and Kai adjusted his fedora and thrusted his hand in front of him.

"Team RWBY! Sun! Kai's team! …" Ruby declared.

" **FIRE!** " Kai ordered.

" **Water Shuriken!** " " **Shadow Sneak!** " " **Flame Charge!** " " **Hurricane!** "

" **Aura Sphere!** " " **Dazzling Parfume!** "

The bullet fire and Pokémon moves rushed the Nevermore. Water Shuriken landed first scratching its bone mask, Aegislash appeared as a rush of shadow striking its gut as Talonflame scorched the monsters back. The dust ammunition gun fire exploded on contact chipping away at its stamina, the Nevermore managed to avoid Noivern's hurricane and Lucario's Aura Sphere barely did anything, as Dazzling Gleam dazed it but it powered through the assault.

"It's still coming!" Noivern cried out panicked.

"Spread out!" Ruby ordered and the group divided along the rocky cliff as the Nevermore charged Talon's first scratching the rocks, Yang shot herself out of the way but went down holding her damaged leg.

"Seriously?!" Yang complained as the Nevermore missed its attack. It quickly noticed Yang in pain making her the prime target. The Grimm raised its head and dropped it abruptly, Lucario blocked its beak with his arms as Yang braced herself.

"Go… Hurry…" Lucario struggled under the Grimm's pressure. Yang's eyes turned red and instead of running she pulled back her gauntlets and shot a flurry of explosive shots warding it off. Lucario cloaked his fist in orange energy and jumped at the Nevermore.

" **Power-Up Punch!** " Lucario landed a hit in the centre of its mask but remained unfazed. "What?" Lucario fell confused as Weiss summoned a glyph under the Nevermore and stabbed the ground freezing its tailfeathers keeping it grounded.

"It's trapped! Now's our chance!" Ruby shouted.

" **Greninja use Night Slash! Noivern use Supersonic! Slurpuff use Dazzling Gleam!** " Kai ordered.

Kai's three Pokémon nodded and began their assault. Greninja performed a falling diagonal slash against the Grimm, followed by Noivern delivering high-pitched pink sound waves confusing the Grimm, finished with an intense flash courtesy of Dazzling Gleam making the Grimm lurch upwards exposing its chest for attack.

"Sun!" Blake shouted.

"Already on it!" Sun replied as he used his semblance to create four copies of himself, two of the copies threw the other two in the air before doing the same to Ruby and Blake. The second pair caught the two girls and threw them at the Grimm where they slashed their weapons in a cross formation. As they went behind it Blake turned her sword into a gun shooting it to Ruby, Blake held onto the ribbon using it to throw Ruby at the Nevermore allowing her to get another hit from behind. As Ruby delivered her second strike Talonflame followed up with Steel Wing before Aegislash stabbed herself into the back of the Grimm's head and used Slash along the entire back of its body dealing a critical hit and forcing it onto its front.

"We won!" Noivern cheered as the Nevermore broke free of the ice and started flying into the air. "Ooor not…"

"Did you really think it would be that easy?!" Weiss berated.

"Kind of."

The Nevermore flew high into the air, the Huntresses and Sun tried to shoot it down but their shots disintegrated before getting close.

"It's out of our range!" Ruby stated.

"Now how do we hit it?" Weiss asked.

Kai snapped his fingers. "One of us can hit it! **Noivern use Hurricane!** "

Noivern gave a toothy smile, his wings glowed light blue and he flapped them viciously creating a massive tornado out of thin air trapping the Nevermore, and shaking it violently in circles. Noivern slowed down and finished his attack and the wind dispersed revealing the Nevermore with its wings pulled back.

"I couldn't finish it off!" Noivern panicked.

"That pose!" Aegislash stated.

The Nevermore flapped its wings sending down a feather storm.

"Get to cover!" Ruby ordered.

"There isn't any!" Sun responded.

Kai looked on at the approaching attack. _'Okay Kai you can do this. Breathe… Remain calm… Let your senses take over.'_ Kai calmed himself but he still wasn't sensing anything new, he looked at his reflection in a Poké ball and saw his eyes were still regular and brown. _'Why isn't this working?! What was there before to get this to work? Was this all just in my head?'_ A feather approached Kai at high speed, he noticed it too late and braced himself as he raised his arms over his head, a snapping sound echoed in front of him. Kai looked back to see Aegislash guarding him with King's Shield.

"You must be warier of your surroundings Sire." She suggested.

Kai let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Aegislash I'll keep that in mi-" Kai froze, as he looked in front of him to see his vision was tinted blue. "… Are my eyes glowing Aegislash?"

"… Well I thought it inappropriate to mention such trivial matters however-"

Kai's eyes returned to normal and he got a realisation. "That's it! That's what I've been missing!"

"Missing what Sire?"

"Stress, concern, panic! My semblance activates when I'm afraid!"

"… Sire I'm afraid I need some context."

"I'll tell you later, right now…" Kai let his panic rush through him and his eyes started glowing. He pushed his hands to his head feeling less pain than before, soon feeling none as he stared down the Grimm. "I'm gonna need you to buy me some time."

The Nevermore's feathers hit the rocks. Ruby used her speed to keep moving around them when a feather landed in her hood pinning her.

"Ugh! Gack! Not again!" She moaned.

Another feather was about to land on her when Water Shuriken sliced it in two sending the halves just to the sides of her.

"After today I deserve a medal!" Greninja declared as he jumped down to Ruby.

"You saved me… Again…"

"I believe the words you're looking for are thank you." Greninja pulled the feather out freeing Ruby as she switched her scythe into a gun and started firing at the Nevermore. "So, team leader. You got a plan?"

Ruby looked at Greninja, then the Nevermore, then the feather split in half. "Actually, I do."

Weiss put her fingers down her sword generating a grey mist, before slicing the air creating an air slash knocking away falling feathers. Blake used her shadow clones to take hits from the feathers, and as mobility to dodge them. Yang shot explosive blasts into the air, knocking away the feathers before they got close. And Sun agilely dodged the feathers even sliding on his knees in front of one causing it to skim over him.

"Woo! I think that's all of them!" Sun stated. "And nobody got hurt!"

"Not quite."

Sun and the three huntresses turned to see Lucario, Slurpuff, Noivern and Talonflame covered in scratches.

"Great teamwork people." Talonflame grunted sarcastically before falling forward.

"My parfume feels… Dizzy…" Slurpuff fell forward on top of Talonflame, the two Pokémon sharing spiral eyes.

"It seems the two of them sustained too much damage from earlier." Lucario explained.

"Take five guys. We'll handle the rest." Noivern comforted.

Kai and Aegislash ran to the group.

"Is everyone alright?" Kai asked.

"We're fine. But two of your guys kind of passed out." Sun summarised.

"Hmph. Fools, they pushed themselves too hard." Aegislash critiqued.

"That's a little harsh isn't it?" Weiss stated.

"You're one to talk Lady Weiss. Given your sharp tongue."

"How dare you!" Weiss and Aegislash locked eyes to eye.

"Guys! Not the time!" Kai interrupted breaking the two up.

"Wait Kai are-?" Blake started to say.

"Yes, my eyes are blue and glowing! I'll explain later! Right now, I have a plan to take down that oversized Honchkrow."

"Well lay it on us." Yang insisted.

"From what I figured out, the bone plates on its body must serve as some sort of armour, and since decapitating a Grimm seems an easy way to kill them it's not too hard to imagine that the mask on its face is protecting something like a brain. So, we crack the mask, fire a shot in the gap and its game over!"

"You do realise that mask is so hard that regular gun fire and explosives can't break through it. How do you expect us to crack it?" Weiss asked.

"Just leave that to me, I think I can find a weak spot."

"Why do I sense that things won't be so simple." Lucario said cautiously.

"Because they won't." Kai answered. "We need to bring that thing down here so that we can get a good shot at the mask but I have no idea how to do that."

"Leave that to us!"

Kai and the rest turned to see Ruby standing triumphantly with Greninja.

"You two can take that thing to the ground?" Kai asked.

"Can we?" Greninja asked sarcastically.

"… Can yo-"

"OF COURSE, WE CAN!"

"Works for me! Alright guys, give those two some room!"

Ruby swivelled her scythe around positioning it behind her and Greninja stretched before crouching in his battle stance.

"Ready ninja frog?" Ruby asked.

"Ready when you are Scynifle girl." Greninja answered.

The Grimm got ready to attack when it swatted itself in the face, hitting itself in confusion descending slightly.

"That's our cue!" Ruby shouted as she ran off in a trail of petals, Greninja managing to keep up surprisingly well.

"Can they do this?" Blake asked cautiously.

"Definitely!" Yang answered determined.

"Maybe." Noivern answered cautiously.

"No." Lucario answered bluntly getting disapproving looks.

Ruby and Greninja ran at high speed looking at each other trustingly, Ruby smirked and jumped into the air as a rush of petals lifting her into the air. Greninja jumped as well and formed balls of water in both of his front feet.

"Here goes nothing!" He shouted. " **Scald!** " Greninja shot both geysers of water at Ruby and she placed the blade of her scythe in the way bracing herself. The boiling water was partially cut by the scythe but the pressure forced Ruby higher into the air like a geyser above the Grimm.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Ruby repeated before bringing out her scythe in front of her. She slightly bent the blade back making the scythe appear more straight falling down with a battle cry. Her scythe caught one of the Grimm's wings and tore through it easily before shooting herself away as the Grimm screeched in pain falling onto the rocks.

"They did it!" Kai cheered.

"I knew they could." Yang stated positively.

"Well Kai. Its up to you." Blake reminded.

"Watch and learn." Kai walked forward and focused his vision on the now downed Grimm, he focused on its mask noticing subtle details such as its age and previous damage such as from Greninja's Water Shuriken. He narrowed his eyes and noticed a small almost undetectable crack in the dead centre between all four of its eyes. "Got it!"

"So where do we hit it?!" Sun asked enthusiastically.

"As a famous band once put it. 'Right between the eyes.'" Kai pointed out the spot. "And I really mean between the eyes."

"By Sire's decree we shall smite this foul beast down!" Aegislash declared.

"Yeah! What she said!" Noivern agreed.

The group charged at the Grimm barring Kai and Lucario.

"Lucario, what are you still doing here?" Kai asked.

"I'm afraid I am of no use to you in this fight." Lucario answered.

"That's nonsense."

"My attacks barely did anything to the Grimm. I would just get in the way."

"Right… The thing must have Flying type properties due to it being a bird. Still I kept Dark Pulse on you for a reason."

"But… The creature has no aura… I cannot sense it even when we're fighting."

"Oh, so that's the problem. Get over it."

"Master I cannot simply get over it. It is like I have lost one of my senses."

"So, look at everyone else fighting." Kai gestured to the others.

Greninja and Noivern fired a stream of draconic energy and boiling water at the Nevermore when it swatted its uninjured wing at them knocking them away. Blake jumped of out of one of her clones in mid air and dived at the Grimm slashing. She delivered a chain of consecutive slashes when it crunched her making her body fade to shadow as she jumped away. Weiss summoned several glyphs behind her which shot icicles simultaneously shattering in the centre of the mask, followed by Aegislash using Iron Head knocking the Nevermore slightly back with a clang. The Grimm opened its beak and crunched down on Aegislash's body dealing super effective damage when it released her after Yang jumped onto its beak delivering a fury of explosive punches at point blank before falling off clutching her injured leg. The Nevermore went to slash at Yang only for Ruby to come in and block its claws with her scythe before slashing its mask and Sun jumping over her, spinning his staff and slamming the Grimm with explosive hits before getting bashed away by its bone mask.

"See them Lucario. They're fighting with everything they've got and they can't even sense aura." Kai explained.

"But… They have effective moves." Lucario argued.

"QUIT BEING A COWARD!" Talonflame shouted as he started to rise before falling over.

"Talonflame!" Kai shouted running over and grabbing his friend.

"You should not be getting up. You have no strength left to fight." Lucario reminded.

"Well if you won't fight then someone has to pick up the slack." Talonflame struggled to stand as he kept falling forward. Lucario looking at him concerningly.

 _'_ _Fighting without sensing aura…'_ Lucario stood in thought.

Aegislash got up slowly suffering from her injuries, if its attack hadn't been lowered four stages by King's Shield then Aegislash may have been knocked out for good.

"How foolish of me to go in like that." She complained to herself. "I left myself open, and after guarding myself for so long."

Noivern flew down to her. "It's alright big sis. We all make mistakes."

Blake was firing her gun at the Nevermore trying to keep it back.

"Does anyone know if we're breaking into this thing?!" She shouted.

Ruby was shooting the Grimm with her sniper while running along before switching it to a scythe and jumping at the Grim delivering a combo of slashes, then becoming petals to get away.

"I don't know! Maybe!" Ruby answered.

"We don't have time for maybes!" The Nevermore flapped the remains of its wings down creating a gust of wind pushing everyone back. It stood up and screeched running at the group when Lucario jumped down in front of it.

" **DARK PULSE!** " Lucario released powerful wave of dark aura knocking the Nevermore on its back to flinch it and dealing a critical hit. "I do not need to sense your aura to know your foul nature! And I definitely don't require it to defeat you!" Lucario jumped onto the top of the Nevermore's beak with a glowing fist. " **Power-Up Punch!** " Lucario rapidly began to punch the exact centre of the mask, the Nevermore lifted Lucario into the air and tried shaking him off. "Even if this does little damage, my attack will raise, and I will keep chipping away!" Lucario reached his maximum attack but still kept pummelling Power-Up Punch after Power-Up Punch to do something. The Nevermore flicked its head upwards then downwards in quick succession managing to shake Lucario off.

"I've got him!" Noivern declared flying up and catching him.

"I'm sorry everyone I couldn't hold on any longer." Lucario apologised.

"What are you talking about? That was awesome!"

"Yes, it was." Kai interrupted walking to the group. "Because we're just about done." Kai saw through his vision that the crack had largened quite considerably and there was a tight hole that was large enough for a bullet to get through. "I'll finish this, but Ruby I'll need your scythe."

"What?!" Ruby cried defensively. "You can't take away Crescent Rose!"

"It's only for a second. I'll give it right back I promise."

"Uuuugh… Fine!" Ruby careful handed over her prized weapon to Kai. "But you'll need me to tell you how it-"

Kai looked at it and studied all the weapons intricate details before folding it into its sniper form. "I'm good thanks." Kai slowly stepped forward eying the Nevermore as it slowly crawled to him. "Hey there big guy, come and face me. You know you want to, I'm just a scared human being." The Grimm started running as it towered over him. "But the thing about fear is that if you can embrace it then you can work with it." The Nevermore kept its head low opening its beak to chow Kai down. "And working with your fear, lets me do some pretty cool stuff." Kai cocked the rifle and looked through the lens with his glowing eyes giving him a perfect shot at the hole. " **LIKE THIS!** " Kai fired a shot that broke through the air reducing the world to silence. The Nevermore remained motionless before toppling on its front with a ground shaking rumble, its body began to smoke and Kai walked up to the monster and patted its mask. "Sorry about that." The Grimm started to become ash fading and trailing away into the wind and open sky. Kai's eyes went back to their original colour and brightness, as he collapsed to the ground.

"KAI!" The active members of the group ran to him and slowly got him to his feet.

"Are you alright?" Ruby asked.

"That was incredible!" Blake commented.

"Dude that was sick!" Sun appreciated.

"Pretty good for a newbie who's never held a gun in his life." Yang stated.

"That was still completely reckless." Weiss critiqued.

"What are you talking about? It's not reckless if he knew he was gonna come out okay." Greninja corrected.

"That still wouldn't change the fact it was reckless." Lucario explained.

"And what would you call foolishly clinging onto that foul monsters' beak Lucario." Aegislash contradicted.

"I'm just glad it's all over… It is all over, right? No more scary monsters?!" Noivern panicked.

Kai just sighed and looked at his friends. "Yeah… It's over…"

* * *

 **So the teams re-united and the first thing they do is take down a giant monster. Makes sense to me. This was my fist time writing a large scale boss to fight, so I would appreciate it if you tell me how I did. More of these will come in the future, and while this one is tame given how I mainly got inspiration from Volume 1 some of the ones I plan for the future may be more intense.**

 **That said, this arc isn't over yet! While there won't be a major fight this large, there's going to be some important character moments, especially regarding Kai.**

 **So until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	18. Chapter 17: Rest and recollection

**-Dusk, Emerald Forest-**

The sky was a calm burnt orange all across the Emerald Forest. On a quiet rocky cliff above the dangerous forest, the Huntsman and Huntresses in training were relaxing after their hard day of not dying. Ruby was on her knees holding an aerosol with a Poké ball symbol on it spraying it in front of her, Talonflame relaxed as the spray permeated his scratches making them vanish.

"There! All better!" Ruby cheered.

Talonflame stretched his wings. "Congratulations! You know how to point and spray a bottle!" Talonflame sarcastically remarked. Ruby looked disappointed and Talonflame sighed. "… But you did good, thanks."

Ruby beamed looking up at Talonflame admirably. "You're welcome!"

"Don't look too into it kid. Let's just be glad Kai stocked up before we got here."

Meanwhile: Weiss, Blake, Sun, Kai, Greninja, Lucario and Aegislash were sat down by the fire all staring at Noivern who stood over them.

"So, there I was." Noivern began to say. "Lucario and Weiss we're down for the count and this massive Drapion-looking Grimm stood in front of me menacingly." The grouped _ooed_ with the exception of Weiss. "I looked it dead in it's beady eyes and said 'All right your unholy abomination. You messed with my family, so I hope you brought your check book… Cause we're about to dine with death! And you're getting stuck with the bill!'"

"That's not how it happened! You didn't say anything!" Weiss pointed out.

Noivern flinched and lowered his head shamefully. "Well I thought it… That counts right?"

"Of course, it counts." Greninja agreed.

"You did think it when you were in the moment." Kai stated.

"Please settle down Miss Schnee." Lucario suggested. Weiss settled down and sat with her arms crossed when Ruby and Talonflame joined them.

"Did we miss it?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Not at all Miss Rose. We're about to get to the good part." Lucario eyed Noivern as Ruby and Talonflame sat down by the fire.

Noivern's eyes lightened back up. "And it was on! I used Hurricane lifting the monster in the air with a whoosh! But it stabbed me! Right in the chest with its stinger knocking me to the ground." The group gasped. "But I stood back up staring him down saying: 'Well, well, well! Looks like we're gonna be late for our dinner reservation. But I'll make sure that when we arrive, justice is served!'" A loud shared rumbling came from the group.

"Please don't mention food. We're starving." Sun whimpered.

"How's the grub coming girls?!" Greninja shouted.

Yang stood over a reasonably large metal pot of bubbling stew, stirring it with a wooden spoon.

"Almost ready." Yang replied. "Chef!"

Yang looked to Slurpuff who stood to the side using Flamethrower (i.e. Flame Parfume) to cook the food. She stopped spewing flames revealing she was wearing a chef's hat and apron in her size. Slurpuff waddled over and Yang took the wooden spoon out of the pot letting Slurpuff sip it, savouring its taste.

"… Too much salty parfume. Hand it to me and I will balance with potato parfume and sweet parfume." Slurpuff critiqued before pulling out a potato, peeling and chopping it at a rapid rate.

"Scratch that. It'll be another five minutes."

The group groaned.

"You said that five minutes ago." Greninja complained.

"Hey it's your sister that's making all these changes!" Yang argued.

"Trust me, it'll be worth the wait!" Kai stated. "Slurpuff is the best cook I know!"

Slurpuff threw several potato slices into the pot before puffing her cheeks spitting into the pot stirring well afterward.

"… Did she just spit into our food?!" Weiss appalled.

"Slurpuff's saliva is a pretty good substitute for sugar, the germs get cooked away and it ends up being healthier than actual sugar." Kai explained.

Slurpuff tasted the stew again sloshing it in her mouth. "Ah. The stews parfume is complete." Slurpuff grabbed a ladle and started scooping out spoonful's of stew into plastic disposable bowls with plastic spoons in them, Yang grabbed some of the bowls and brought them over, Slurpuff doing the same with the rest of them.

"Thank you for the food you two." Kai thanked, as Slurpuff nodded graciously taking of her hat and apron before Kai and his team started digging into the stew. Kai was blowing air on the spoon to cool it down when he noticed no one else was eating. "What's wrong, I thought you were hungry?"

"Let's just say we're not exactly comfortable with eating food that's been spat in." Blake explained. A loud slurping sound was heard at the side and the Huntresses saw Sun slurping the stew down, pouring it straight in his mouth from the bowl.

"What?! This is good stuff." He defended.

"… Most of us aren't comfortable."

"Come on its fine. Cheese is made with bacteria so a little sweet saliva in your stew won't kill you." Kai argued. The Huntresses looked in their bowls as their stomachs rumbled.

"Well everyone else is eating it." Ruby pointed out.

"And I did spend a long time cooking it." Yang reminded herself.

The Huntresses looked to themselves before cautiously getting a spoonful and putting it in their mouths before swallowing satisfied.

"Wow, this is really good!" Ruby exclaimed.

"I guess she really knows what she's doing." Yang stated.

"It's still weird that we're eating this." Weiss pointed out.

"Right now I think we're hungry enough not to care." Blake moaned as she ate another spoonful.

The group ate all of the stew throwing the bowls on a pile in the corner.

"Phew, I'm stuffed." Yang said as she rubbed her stomach.

"Honestly I could eat another few bowls." Greninja admitted.

"Well now what?" Kai asked the group.

"I don't know, does anyone know any fun games we can play?" Ruby asked.

"Well that depends…" Greninja stretched in place before whipping out a fan of cards in his front feet from out of seemingly nowhere. "How many of you are familiar with cards?"

"Where do you keep those?" Weiss asked suspiciously.

Greninja shrugged. "Pokémon can keep a single item on them. I choose a pack of cards, I just sort of get it out and put it away."

"But where could you possibly keep-"

"Alright what's it gonna be?" Greninja interrupted. "Twenty-one blackjack, rummy, poker, go fish…"

"You know a surprising amount of card games." Blake noticed.

"Well Kai was the one who taught them to us, it's a pretty good way to pass time."

"Well I can't take all of the credit, my dad was the one who played card games with me when I was a kid." Kai started to explain. "He sort of got me hooked on them so one night when we were bored I started teaching everyone how to play."

"And we've been kicking his butt at it ever since." Greninja finished.

"Really?" Kai said unconvincingly. "Last summer, Route 7-"

"Okay! That game was rigged!" Greninja out cried. "There was no way you could have gotten a five card trick twenty one as the dealer! AFTER! I got a five card trick twenty one!"

"We were all there Greninja accept it. Luck was not on your side that night." Aegislash stated.

"Still if you want to talk about truly bad luck there was always that time he went against that Chansey." Lucario mentioned.

"EVERY SINGLE TIME! I just needed one more hit of Water Shuriken. And every time I just couldn't get it and she healed it all off laughing as I got poisoned to death…" Greninja moped and lay down despondently to the laughing of everyone around him.

"I think this is the first time you've properly talked about your past." Yang realized.

"Yeah, why don't you do it more often?" Ruby asked enthusiastically.

"Don't force him. Let's just be glad he's finally sharing." Blake added.

Kai smiled fondly taking off his hat and looked at it nostalgically. "No Ruby's right. I've known you long enough that I can share some of my history with you." Kai put on his hat and stood up. "Now which story should I tell?"

Lucario and Aegislash looked to each other slightly concerned.

"Sire?" Aegislash asked. "Perhaps we should tell a short story. We wouldn't want to bore or overwhelm our comrades with our tales of old."

"Maybe we should keep things simple and tell as few details as possible." Lucario added suspiciously.

Kai looked to them catching on to what they were saying. "Honestly these guys deserve all the details after what we've been through." He replied making Aegislash and Lucario look back to each other.

"I know a good story!" Noivern perked up before settling down. "If you wouldn't mind me suggesting it…" He added sheepishly.

"No problem Noivern. Go ahead."

"Well… I was thinking… Why don't you tell them the story of when your journey began?"

Kai put his chin on his closed fist. "Hmm? … I don't think I've told that one in a while. Sure! Why not?"

Greninja put the cards away and sneaked over to Ruby's rucksack grabbing the bag of marshmallows she mentioned and cautiously popped one into his mouth as he sat down.

"Goosh, I'll bill bin bhe banks. (Guess I'll fill in the blanks.)" Greninja stated with his mouth full.

"Greninja you're disgracefully speaking with your mouth full again." Aegislash critiqued with a sweat drop on her cross guard.

"So, what's this story about?" Blake asked.

Kai smiled. "It's just as Noivern said. This is the story of how my journey started: getting my first Pokémon, leaving home, travelling the region… This is how it began."

"Wow." Ruby awed.

"I suppose it's about time you explained where you came from. You've been withholding it long enough." Weiss added.

"Yeah, yeah." Kai shrugged off. "This story started three years ago in my home town. A little place called…

* * *

 **3 Years ago…**

 **-Morning, Vaniville Town-**

 _The bright yellow sun shined brightly in the bright blue sky lightly littered with puffy white clouds. The town's stone path lay quiet as no one had left their homes yet. One of these houses was surrounded by a brick wall the inside of which housed a lush front garden housing a large tree to the side and a stone path leading to the centre of the town. The house was made of white brick and had two stories each with an orange tiled roof, the lower roof being over the turquoise front door._

 _On the top floor inside the house was a bedroom: there was a large bed just by a window, the floor was wooden with an orange carpet in the middle, a large flat screen was on the wall that had plugged into it a (unfortunately poor selling) games console. Behind the bed was a bookcase and to the side was a side table housing a lamp. In front of the bed was a desk with a PC and to the edge of the room next to the stairs down was a large mirror on the wall._

 _"_ _Kai! Come down! Someone's here to see you!" A woman's voice called out to him._

 _A rustling came from the bed as Kai slowly got out._

 _"_ _Sure… It's not like I wanted to stay in bed today." Kai groaned quietly._

 _He got up and looked in the mirror examining himself. He was in his regular pyjamas and he licked his hand using it to push down some out of place bits of hair._

 _'_ _I should probably get dressed shouldn't I?' Kai thought, '… Nah! I doubt it's anybody 'that' important.'_

 _Kai slowly walked down the stairs yawning purposely taking his time. When he made it to the bottom he saw two people casually chatting in the living room._

 _The first was a woman (presumably the one who called him). She had short reddish-brown hair that had been dyed recently, smooth skin that had a couple of lines to show early signs of aging, and was very slightly overweight. She wore: square rimmed glasses, a white T-Shirt, blue jeans and Birkenstock sandals._

 _The second was a man that at this point Kai had only heard about but never seen in person; a man wearing a lab coat with black messy hair and a couple of bangs._

 _The two stopped talking and smiled brightly at Kai, an action which he did not return._

 _"_ _Good morning honey." The woman greeted._

 _"_ _Good morning mom." Kai responded. "… And unknown man in my house."_

 _"_ _Please allow me to introduce myself." The man walked forward to Kai. "My name is-"_

 _"_ _Professor Sycamore." Kai interrupted. "Famous Pokémon professor in the Kalos region, known for his studies in the field of Mega Evolution. How's that going? Still a dead end?"_

 _Sycamore smiled. "Well it's obvious you seem well informed for a man of your age."_

 _Kai shrugged. "I'm fourteen, I watch the news sometimes, it's not that impressive."_

 _"_ _Well I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here aren't you?"_

 _"_ _Honestly, not in the least."_

 _"_ _Kai be nice." His mom intervened. "The professor has come a long way to see you today."_

 _"_ _That's funny. Last I checked he didn't do house calls."_

 _"_ _Well today I'm making an exception." Sycamore started to explain. "As you mentioned yourself my research has been slow, so I have been looking for young trainers to go on a mission for me."_

 _"_ _And let me guess, you want me to be one of these people."_

 _Sycamore nodded his head. "I am aware that fourteen is traditionally a little old to start a journey these days, but better late than never as they say. When I sent my offer out your mother went into thorough detail and how you would be an excellent candidate."_

 _Kai looked to his mom raising a brow. "You signed me up for this?"_

 _"_ _Kai sweetie… I still remember how when you were younger being a trainer was all you ever wanted. You were so active back then but lately you've been staying in more often and going out less." Kai's mom explained._

 _"_ _And by lately you mean three years ago. After you- know- what." Kai stated coldly causing his mom to go silent. "Thought so. Well professor I hate to waste your time but I'm just not interested."_

 _"_ _Well at least see the potential partners I brought with me, they came a long way too and it would be rude for them to not even see you." Sycamore mentioned._

 _Kai groaned. "Fine… Make it quick."_

 _Sycamore grabbed three Poké balls and enlarged them in his hand throwing them to the ground where they opened._

 _The Pokémon on the far left was a bipedal mammal that was primarily brown but its back and tail were green and most of its head looked like the prickly outside of a chestnut._

 _The Pokémon in the middle bared striking resemblance to a desert fox only much cuter. Its fur was primarily yellow except for the end of its tail, and the fur coming out of its ears which was orange. As well as its face which was white with a black nose._

 _The final Pokémon on the far right was a one foot tall blue frog with large yellow eyes and a mane of foamy bubbles._

 _"_ _These three are the starter Pokémon that young trainers in the Kalos region can choose from!" Sycamore announced._

 _"_ _Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie." Kai answered abruptly before crouching down and staring at each of them at their own level. Chespin cheered enthusiastically jumping on the spot, Fennekin smiled softly and curled up cutely, and Froakie sat there with a straight face, and linear pupils yawning. Kai and Froakie locked eyes for a brief moment, causing Froakie's pupils to widen._

 _"_ _Pass." Kai deadpanned, standing up making Froakie get a cross expression._

* * *

"WHAT?!" Ruby screamed in the present day. "You were given the option of three of them and you rejected them all?!"

"Pretty much." Kai answered calmly.

"Is it just me or did you seem like a total jerk in the past." Sun stated.

Kai looked down sadly. "… I guess you could say… I was going through a rough patch." Kai looked back up and smiled softly. "But the story isn't finished yet you know. Now where was I?"

* * *

 _Sycamore looked surprised. "Please would you reconsider-"_

 _"_ _Professor I believe that I have made my position quite clear. I don't know what else there is to say, so if you wouldn't mind I've got some TV to watch." Kai explained as he turned around and started heading up the stairs._

 _Sycamore looked concerned then his face lit up with an idea. "Wait! I just remembered!" Kai turned around to face him. "I've got some business to do in Aquacorde Town for the day so I have to leave."_

 _"_ _Great. Get going already."_

 _"_ _Buuut."_

 _'_ _How did I know that there was going to be a but?' Kai thought annoyed._

 _"_ _I'll be so busy that I won't be able to take care of these guys today."_

 _"_ _Again I'm not interested." Kai repeated as he continued walking up the stairs._

 _"_ _Well tell you what. If you look after these guys for the day and you still haven't changed your mind, I promise not to bother you again for the rest of your life."_

 _Kai looked back to him slowly. "You promise?"_

 _Sycamore raised his right hand and used his left hand to mark an imaginary 'X' over the left side of his chest. "Cross my heart."_

 _Kai placed his chin on his fist in though. "… All right. Deal!"_

 _"_ _This is fantastic! I'll make some tea!" Kai's mom cheerfully said as she went into the kitchen._

 _Professor Sycamore threw the Poké balls to Kai and started heading out. "I'm counting on you Kai." He said before leaving the house._

 _The three starters walked up to Kai and he slowly went up to them. "You know what? It's a beautiful day outside! Why don't we go out for a walk?!" Kai asked._

 _Chespin and Fennekin cheered in agreement but Froakie stood with his front legs crossed and his pupils narrowed in suspicion._

 _"_ _Fro… (Hmm…)" The Froakie croaked._

 _Kai walked to the front door and opened it before putting his right foot outside. The starters ran out and Kai gave an evil smirk as he used his left foot to pull himself back in the house before slamming the door shut locking them out as he sneakily walked back upstairs._

 _'_ _Suckers!' Kai thought cruelly._

 _As he made it up the stairs into his room his mom came back to the living room to see Kai was gone._

 _"_ _Huh? I just heard the door slam, but I would have thought he would have tried to drink his tea first." She contemplated. "Oh well, never mind. At least he's out for a change."_

 _Outside the house Chespin and Fennekin gave each other confused looks before sitting patiently for Kai to return. Froakie meanwhile was visibly frustrated._

 _"_ _Fro! Fro! Froakie! Fro! Fro-! (I knew it! I knew it! But I went out anyway! Of course! Of course I-!" Froakie heard a shunt from above him and he turned to see one of the top floors windows open. Froakie's pupils went back to being circular and it gave a devilish grin. "Froakie. (Oh hello.)" It said overdramatically._

 _Kai had just opened his window and was getting changed into his usual attire. The main difference was that since he didn't plan on going out he didn't put on his black boots or cobalt jacket. He had just zipped the fly on his jeans when he headed to his desk._

 _"_ _And the_ _pièce de résistance." Kai reached for his fedora when something soft hit him in the face knocking him to the floor. "What the-?!" Kai rubbed his face and saw on his hands a white foam that slowly started to melt in his hands. "Frubbles?!"_

 _"_ _Fro Fro Froa Fro! Fro Fro Froa Fro! (I've got your hat! I've got your hat!)"_

 _Kai looked up to see Froakie jumping on his desk triumphantly holding Kai's hat in his right front foot before putting it on, as he gave Kai a malicious smirk._

 _"_ _You! Give that back!"_

 _"_ _Froa Fro! (Make me!)" Froakie responded._

 _Kai threw his arms forwards to grab Froakie but he was too fast and he jumped into the air before sticking his feet on Kai's ceiling and blowing a raspberry as Kai._

 _"_ _Why you little!" Kai quickly scanned his room and ran to his bookcase grabbing a handful of books before throwing them at Froakie. Froakie's right front foot glowed yellow and it either avoided the books entirely or swatted them away._

 _'_ _It's reading my moves, pretty clever but-'_

 _Kai flicked his wrist to the left without throwing a book making Froakie dodge to the right leaving it open. Kai threw the book at Froakie hitting him dead on making it crash to the floor. Kai's hat descended slower and Kai caught it in his hand before placing it on his head._

 _'_ _There's a reason humans are the trainers.'_

 _"_ _Froakie Froakie... (Sneaky little...)" Froakie groaned rubbing its head as Kai stood above it intimidatingly holding a book in his hand._

 _"_ _Now then. Where were we?" Kai asked seriously as Froakie looking Kai in the eye with a serious expression._

 _"_ _Kai is that you?" Kai's mom asked from below, the sound of footsteps following. Kai panicked and dropped the book on the floor holding his hands behind his back, Froakie just looked away with a cross face crossing his front legs. Kai's mom entered his room holding a cup of tea. "I thought you said you were going out?"_

 _"_ _Well… Yeah… Bu- But, I-" Kai tried to think of an excuse. "I- I had to get changed first! You don't expect me to go for a walk in my pyjamas."_

 _"_ _But I heard the door shut before."_

 _"_ _That was the professor."_

 _"_ _But I heard it again."_

 _"_ _Really I didn't."_

 _Froakie looked in shock that Kai was getting away with this. "Fro Froa Froa Fro Froakie! Froakie! (He just threw the book at me! Literally!)" It croaked._

 _"_ _Oh and who's this little guy? Is this your partner?" Kai's mom cooed. Kai and Froakie both looked away from each other in annoyance._

 _"_ _No. He's just awfully clingy. You are a guy right?"_

 _"_ _Fro Fro? (Are you?)" Froakie nodded confirming his gender._

 _"_ _Well don't mind me, you hurry and get dressed and I'll see you out." Kai's mom left the tea on his desk and left the room._

 _Kai sighed. "Well this is just peachy." Kai groaned looking at Froakie giving him a smug grin. "What are you smiling about?!" Kai complained as he started to put on his jacket._

 ** _5 minutes later…_**

 _"_ _Goodbye honey."_

 _"_ _Goodbye mom."_

 _"_ _Froakie. (See ya.)"_

 _Kai left his house with Froakie and was greeted by Chespin and Fennekin._

 _"_ _Che! Chespin!" Chespin cheered._

 _"_ _Fennekin!" Fennekin said happily._

 _"_ _Huh you two actually waited. I almost feel kind of bad." Kai admitted as he started walking off, Chespin and Fennekin were close to his feet while Froakie kept his distance. At this point some people were out around the town and Kai was approached by two young children; a boy and a girl._

 _"_ _Hey mister are those you're Pokémon?" The boy asked innocently._

 _Kai shrugged his shoulders. "Technically I'm looking after them for… An acquaintance."_

 _"_ _That's so cool! Can we play with them?" The girl asked enthusiastically._

 _"_ _By all means." Kai answered and the boy ran over to Fennekin while the girl ran over to Chespin._

 _"_ _Awesome!" The boy cheered seeing Fennekin use Ember to scorch the rocky path with fire._

 _"_ _Wowee!" The girl awed as she saw Chespin use Vine Whip creating snapping sounds in the air._

 _Suddenly Froakie jumped in-between the two kids and started dancing on the spot before puffing his cheeks and spewing bubbles in the air. "Froakie! (Ta da!)" Froakie spread its front legs in a T-Pose while angling himself diagonally in some sort of victory pose._

 _"…_ _Bubbles seriously." The boy commented unimpressed._

 _"_ _Those eyes are really weird looking." The girl judged._

 _Froakie went on his knees staring at the ground, a negative aura around him._

 _Kai slow clapped. "Wow. Bravo. That couldn't have gone any worse."_

 _Froakie looked at Kai with a cross expression and crossed his front legs. "Froakie. (Shut up.)"_

 _Kai scoffed. "Well someone has an ego."_

 _Froakie looked at Kai annoyed as Kai smirked back getting cut off by a voice._

 _"_ _Ben! Marie! Lunch is ready!"_

 _"_ _Oh boy lunch time!" The boy ran off to the direction of the voice._

 _The girl waved. "Thank you for letting us play with your Pokémon" The girl then ran off._

 _Kai smiled sincerely. "I remember those days…" Kai said nostalgically._

 ** _15 minutes later…_**

 _Vaniville town wasn't the biggest place in the world and Kai was pacing when his stomach growled._

 _"_ _What? I can't be hungry, it's only…" Kai pulled out his Holo Caster and saw that the time was 1:37pm. "Wait that's the time. Okay I regret getting mad that someone woke me up." Kai turned to the starters. "What do you guys think? Lunch?" Kai asked as the starters who were sat down rubbing their stomachs._

 _"_ _Froa Froakie Fro? (What do you think?)" Froakie sarcastically asked._

 _"…_ _I'll take that as a yes."_

 _Kai walked back into home with the Pokémon close by. "Mom I'm home!" There was no reply as Kai walked to his kitchen in the silent house. "Mom?" Kai walked to the counter and picked up a note._

To Kai,

Work called while you were out, had to go. Will be back by tonight.

Love you lots,

Mom

X X

 _Kai smiled. "All right looks like we're all- where's Froakie?"_

 _Kai looked down at his feet to see Chespin and Fennekin but Froakie was missing._

 _"_ _Chespin?"_

 _"_ _Fennekin?"_

 _A clicking sound was heard from the living room followed by the sound of voices getting cut off and on between clicks. Kai stormed into the living room to see Froakie resting on a pillow on the coach in front of the TV channel surfing._

 _"_ _What do you think you're-?" Kai started to say._

 _"_ _Froakie Froa. (Gimme a sec.)" Froakie interrupted. He flicked through several channels before finding a show he liked._

 _"_ _ **Tonight, on Boys in Blue**_ _!" The TV show broadcasted. "_ _ **A couple of scumbags think they're too good for Johnny law!**_ _"_

 _"_ _We have visual on a White Sudan going along South Avenue! Approaching in hot pursuit!" A man on the TV stated._

 _Kai walked over to the TV to see two men and a Bisharp getting arrested by several police officers._ _A light brown, canine Pokémon with a short snout, cream fur forming a moustache and a three-pointed crest, as well as shaggy dark blue fur covering its body and short tail, was sniffing the boot of the car._

 _"_ _ **Looks like this one's a job for the big dogs!**_ _"_

 _"_ _What is it Herdier?" One officer asked._

 _Herdier barked and a second officer opened the car up revealing a large amount of yellow dodecahedron shaped crystals._

 _"_ _Uncut Max Revives." The second officer grunted. "These boys are going down for a long time."_

 _Froakie's eyes widened and he smiled. "Froakie. (Oh yeah.)"_

 _Kai sighed and went back to the kitchen. "Don't get any bright ideas from that show." Kai warned._

 _'_ _At least it will keep him distracted.'_

 _Kai went back into the kitchen and looked in the fridge. "All right let's see…" Kai scanned to see if there was anything for the starters to eat, his eyes fell on some apples and slices of watermelon before turning around to see a fruit bowl on the kitchen table. "Fruit it is."_

 _Kai grabbed the apples and water melon slices before closing the door. He pulled out a chopping board from a drawer, a sharp knife from a knife holder and the fruit bowl. He then started methodically chopping and dicing the fruit into manageable sized pieces before separating them into three bowls. He grabbed the first two and placed them in the living room, where Chespin and Fennekin began to dig in. Kai returned and placed the final bowl of fruit near Froakie only for him to not notice it as he was entranced by the TV._

 _"_ _ **Herdier use Bite!**_ _" An officer commanded. Herdier's teeth glowed white and extended as it bit down on a criminal's leg making them fall to the ground._

 _"_ _Froa! (Woah!)" Froakie awed._

 _The criminal struggled on the ground. "Police brutality! Police bru-!" The TV was turned off with a click. Froakie's eyes widened and his pupils narrowed as he moaned in shock. Froakie darted his head around him eventually locking eyes with Kai who held the remote in his hand._

 _"_ _Your lunch is right there. You can have this back when you're done." Kai explained. "Now if you'll excuse me I have lunch to make for myself."_

 _Kai walked off into the kitchen leaving all three starters alone as Froakie growled in annoyance before sighing. He stared at the bowl of fruit in front of him and turned away in defiance, his stomach growled and Froakie drooped feeling his empty stomach with his right front foot._

 _"_ _Chespin Chespin! (Dig in Froakie!)" Chespin encouraged._

 _Froakie turned his head to Chespin with linear pupils. "Froakie Froakie. Froakie Froakie. (You're really eating that. After spending time with that guy.)"_

 _"_ _Chespin! (Uh huh!)"_

 _Froakie face palmed. "Froakie Fro Froa Fro Froakie. (Gullible thy name is Chespin.)"_

 _"_ _Fennekin Fen. Fen Fennekin Fennekin. (Froakie come on. You're obviously hungry.)" Fennekin suggested._

 _"_ _Fro Froakie. Fro Froakie Fro Froa Froakie Fro Froa Froakie Froakie Froak- FRO FROA FRO FROA FRO FROAKIE FRO FROAKIE FROAKIE FRO FROAKIE! (You too huh. Well forgive me for thinking this food might be drugged after- HE WENT AND LOCKED US OUT OF THE HOUSE AND HAS BEEN TRYING TO IGNORE US SINCE!)"_

 _"_ _Fen Fennekin Fenne Fenne Fennekin. (He didn't lock us out he just went to get changed.)_

 _Froakie blinked twice awkwardly in silence. "Fro Froakie. Froakie Fro Froak Fro Froakie. (I stand corrected. Fennekin thy name is also gullible.)_

 _Froakie's stomach rumbled louder than before and he clutched his stomach. He stared at his bowl of fruit that was positioned just in the sun's rays to give off a heavenly pure glow of righteousness. "Fro Froakie. Fro Froakie. Fro Froakie Froakie. Fro Froakie. Fro Froakie… (I don't need it. I don't need it. I definitely don't need it. I don't need it I don't need it…)" A drop of sweat fell across the side of his face._

 _'_ _One bite couldn't hurt… Right?' Froakie thought as he reached for a small piece of apple popping it into his mouth._

 _"…_ _ **FROAKIE FRO!**_ _(_ _ **I NEED IT!**_ _)" Froakie started shovelling as much food as Pokémonly possible in his cheeks._

 _"_ _Froa… Kie… Fro Froakie Froakie. (So… Good… Way better than the stuff at the lab.) Froakie managed to say in-between gulps. He finished his lunch in a couple of minutes laying down relaxed and satisfied. "Froooakie. Fro Froakie. (Oooh yeah. That hit the spot.)" Froakie admitted before burping._

 _Kai sat down on the couch with a full plate. It consisted of brown bread sandwiches cut into triangles, a yoghurt, three chocolate biscuits and a packet of crisps (or potato chips as my American readers would call them.)_

 _"_ _So how was lunch?" Kai asked the starters. Chespin and Fennekin smiled pushing forward their half-eaten bowls. "Guess I overdid it on the portions. And what about you?" Kai saw Froakie lying in euphoria and stared at his bowl licked clean. Kai chuckled. "You almost look cute laying there like that. Almost."_

 _Kai held the remote in his hand and turned on the TV getting Froakie's attention._

 _"_ _Froakie. (Give it.)" Froakie groaned as he weekly reached for the remote._

 _Kai held it just out of his reach. "Oh, this thing?" Kai taunted. "I was gonna give it back to you but you seem too weak at the moment so we'll just put what I want on instead."_

 _"_ _Fro… Froa… (You… Evil…)"_

 _Kai typed in a three-digit number and a familiar eastern animated show was on._

 _"_ _Oh, there we go."_

 _"_ _Fro Froakie. Froa, Froakie kie kie Froakie Froakie. (A dumb kid show. Really, way to lower the bar for yourself even more.)"_

 _"_ _ **KAIOKEN!**_ _"_

 _"_ _Froa- kie? (Kaio- what?)"_

 _"_ _ **TIMES FOUR!**_ _"_

 _Froakie lay awestruck witnessing an iconic beam struggle flash before his eyes._

 _"_ _Froooa… (Wooow…)"_

 _"_ _You like that huh." Froakie looked up to see Kai staring at him. "Cause there is a marathon on and buddy… You've seen nothing yet."_

 _Froakie looked down to see his fellow starters curled up asleep as he huddled up closer to Kai. The two watched their show for several hours until Froakie too fell asleep._

* * *

 **And here it is. The origin of Kai's journey, or at least part 1 of it. I've noticed recently that I've been getting less reviews lately which is why I haven't said anything at the beginning of the chapters, don't know if there's a reason for that though. Either way, stay tuned for next week were we see the origin of Kai's journey concluded.**

 **So until next time this is Kallerston, signing out!**


	19. Chapter 18: Bonds new and old alike

**_A couple hours later…_**

 _The world was dark. Light slowly filled the world as Froakie slowly opened his eyes, he jumped off the couch and onto the floor feeling much better than earlier. He stretched in place turning his head noticing the sky was now a bright orange then turning again to see Chespin and Fennekin asleep on the floor._

 _"_ _Fro Froa Fro Fro Fro? (How long was I out?)" Froakie looked around before hopping toward the stairs. "Froakie Fro Froakie? (Where is that guy?)" Froakie quietly made his way up the stairs and entered Kai's room, seeing him sitting on his bed with his head down. "Fro Froa Fro Fro- (Oh there you are-)"_

 _"_ _I don't want this." Kai murmured. Froakie stopped himself and quietly got closer to listen in on Kai. "What was that professor thinking trying to get me to go on a journey, I'm happy, so why am I feeling uneasy about saying goodbye." Kai placed his hat at his side. "No! This is for the best besides they're a hassle anyway: taking them for walks, feeding them, entertaining them, it's not worth the effort."_

 _Froakie slumped down disappointed. "Froakie Froakie Froa… (So that's how you feel…)"_

 _"_ _Yeah, especially that Froakie." Kai stated causing Froakie to look up at him with linear pupils. "Getting in my face, eating my food, watching my TV, I'm probably dodging a bullet."_

 _Froakie's pupils went back to normal and he crossed them in anger. He jumped onto the bed and snatched Kai's hat. "Froa Froakie Froakie Froakie Froa! (Well if that's how you really feel!)" Froakie croaked upset before jumping out of Kai's open window, making his way outside before quickly hopping onto the ground and out onto the street._

 _"_ _Froakie?! Wait!"_

 _Froakie hopped to the left of Kai's house along the rocky path and passed through a set of wooden gates getting him on Route 1. Froakie hopped quickly on a grey dirt path staring at two small gardens at his sides._

 _"_ _Fro! Fro Froakie! Froakie Froakie! (I knew it! I knew he was a jerk! Just like all the other trainers out there!)" Froakie angrily shouted. "Froakie Fro Froa Froakie Froakie! Froa Fro Froakie Froakie Froak- Froa Fro Fro Froakie? (It's about time I do what I should have done weeks ago! Join my fellow Pokémon in the wil- where did the route go?)"_

 _Froakie looked around to see a completely different environment… A town._ _The town had a classic colonial appearance with several European-style apartment buildings and streetlights. It was bordered on the north by a river, and in the center of the town was a fountain._

 _Froakie looked back and forth between the Route behind him and the town he was now in. "… Froa Froa Fro Froakie Froa Fro Froakie. (…Well that was awkwardly short and pointless.)"_

 _"_ _Froakie!" Kai's voice shouted from behind him._

 _Froakie started hopping again down the center of the town._

 _'_ _Let's see.' Froakie thought. 'Water fountain, too small. Water under the bridge, too big and empty. This town, I want to get away from people.' His eyes then focused on the second route across the bridge. 'Bingo!'_

 _Froakie picked up the pace making his way across the bridge quickly and onto Route 2. He went into the tall grass and ducked down panting in place._

 _"_ _Froakie… Fro Froakie… (I think… I've lost him…) Froakie panted. He stared at Kai's hat solemnly in front of him and sighed. "Fro Froa Froakie Fro Froa Froakie Froakie. (And here I started to think you might be different.)_

 _Froakie turned his head to a sudden rustling in the grass. "Fro… (Hmm…)"_

 _A sudden blur rushed from the grass charging at Froakie knocking him away dropping the grey hat._

 _"_ _FLETCH! LING! (LEAVE! NOW!)" A wild Fletchling yelled._

 _Froakie dusted himself off and scowled at the Tiny Robin Pokémon. "Froa Froa Froakie? (What's your problem?)_

 _"_ _Fletchling Fle Fletch Fletchling Fletchling Fle Fletch Fletch Fletch Fletchling, Fletch FLETCHLING Fletch Fletchling Fle Fletchling! (My problem is that I'm here trying to enjoy some peace and quiet, when SOMEONE starts chatting to themselves!)_

 _"…_ _Fro Froa Froa Froakie Froakie. (… You have some serious issues.)"_

 _"_ _FLETHCLING!_ _ **Fletchling!**_ _(THAT'S IT!_ _ **Tackle!**_ _)" Fletchling tackled Froakie pushing him back before he stopped himself._

 _"_ _Fro, Froa Froakie Froakie Froakie! (So, this is how we're doing things. Fine with me!) Froakie clenched his right front foot and it glowed yellow. "_ _ **Froakie!**_ _(_ _ **Pound!**_ _)" Froakie lunged at Fletchling only for him to fly above Froakie causing his attack to miss. "Fro- Froakie! (Wha- cheater!)_

 _"_ _Fletchling Fletchling Fletch, Fletchling? (You've not battled much, have you?!)" Fletchling summarized. "Fletchling: Fle Fletch Fletch Fletch Fletchling._ _ **Fletchling!**_ _(Here's a tip: use every trick you've got to win!_ _ **Tackle!**_ _)"_

 _Fletchling attacked Froakie again making Froakie flip in the air before landing on his feet wobbling. "Fletchling! Fletchling!_ _ **Fletchling!**_ _(Hold nothing back! Show me your strength!_ _ **Quick Attack!**_ _)" Before Froakie could use his turn Fletchling charged at him again as a blur surrounded by a white aura with faint after images knocking him onto his back._

 _Froakie growled and got back up, bruises starting to form. "_ _ **Froakie!**_ _(_ _ **Growl!**_ _)" Froakie croaked loudly at Fletchling sending out loud sound waves. They reached Fletchling who remained unfazed as a blue aura fell over him lowering his attack._

 _"_ _Fle Fletch Fletchling. Fletchling:_ _ **Fletchling!**_ _(I've been through worse. Here's mine:_ _ **Growl!**_ _)_

 _Fletchling chirped loudly giving his cry, sending out soundwaves that made Froakie cover his ears, his attack getting lowered._

 _Froakie looked at Fletchling determined. "Fro Froa Fro Froa Fro Froakie?! (Is that all you've got bird brain?!)_

 _A tick mark appeared by Fletching's head. "Fletchling Fletch Fletch Fletch Fletchling Fle Fletch Fletchling. FLE FLETCH FLETCHLING!_ _ **Fletchling!**_ _(Weaklings like you who are all talk using words to lie about your strength. YOU MAKE ME SICK!_ _ **Tackle!**_ _)"_

 _Froakie braced himself closing his eyes when he felt a brief gust of wind and an 'oomph' as something took an impact in front of him._

 _Froakie slowly opened his eyes. "Fro…? (Huh…?) Froakie looked in awe to see Kai standing in front of him._

 _Kai slowly looked behind him to look down at Froakie. "I knew you were nothing but trouble." Kai remarked._

 _"_ _FLE FLETCHLING FLE FLE FLETCHLING! FLE FLETCHLING!_ _ **Fletchling!**_ _(GET OUT OF THE WAY HUMAN! THIS IS MY FIGHT!_ _ **Quick Attack!**_ _)"_

 _Fletchling flew at blinding speeds to hit Froakie, Kai intervening to take the hit again._

 _"_ _Geez what did you do to tick this guy of?" Kai remarked. Kai looked at Fletchling and suddenly got an idea._

 _'_ _Well I've not had a battle since trainer school but now's as good a time to get back into it as any.' Kai thought._

 _"_ _Froakie get on my right shoulder!" Kai ordered._

 _Froakie looked at him blankly. "… Froa? (… What?)"_

 _"_ _Just do it!" Froakie was unsure but for some reason felt compelled to trust Kai. He jumped onto his shoulder and Kai extended his arm lifting it towards Fletchling. "Now jump again;_ _ **and**_ _ **use Pound on Fletchling!**_ _"_

 _Fletchling looked on confused, and Froakie smirked evilly. "Froakie! (Oh yes!) Froakie quickly ran on Kai's arm jumping off the edge getting above Fletchling with a glowing front foot._

 _"_ _FLETCH?! (WHAT?!) Fletchling cried._

 _"_ _Fro. (Hey.)" Froakie used Pound delivering a karate chop knocking Fletchling closer to the ground, he recovered and opened his wings letting him glide over the ground before flapping to hover just over the dirt as Froakie dropped from the sky._

 _"_ _All right let's keep it up!" Kai cheered as he picked up his fedora, brushing it off and placing it on his head._

 _"_ _Froakie! (Yes sir!)" Froakie answered._

 _'_ _Now then what next.' Kai thought as he stared at Froakie's back noticing his frubbles. 'Well it won't be permanent like Sand-Attack or Smokescreen but that should work!'_

 _"_ _Fletchling Fletch._ _ **Fletchling!**_ _(Annoying pests._ _ **Tackle!**_ _)" Fletchling glided over the ground at a high speed towards Froakie._

 _"_ _Froakie block his sight with your frubbles then move!" Kai shouted._

 _Froakie smirked reaching behind him and throwing a spread of frubbles at Fletchling. Fletchling acrobatically maneuvered around them before getting struck in the face not taking damage._

 _"_ _Fle Fletchling? Fletch Fletch?! (It doesn't hurt? What is this?!)" Fletchling charged through as the frubbles slipped away revealing the empty spot where Froakie once stood forcing Fletchling to stop._

 _'_ _Where did he go?' Fletchling thought as he darted his head all around him. A thud came from his left and Fletchling instinctively turned to see Froakie with puffy cheeks. 'OH NO!'_

 _"_ _ **Froakie use Bubble!**_ _" Kai thrusted his finger forwards, Froakie opened his mouth unleashing a rapid fire of bubbles that popped on contact with Fletchling forcing him away as he closed his eyes and cried out falling to the ground. "_ _ **Follow it up with Pound!**_ _" Froakie obliged and hopped at Fletchling pulling back his yellow front foot._

 _Fletchling stood up defiantly. "FLETCHLING!_ _ **FLE FLETCHLING FLE FLETCHLING! FLE! FLETCH! LING! FLETCHLING!**_ _(NOT YET!_ _ **I WON'T GO BACK TO BEING WEAK! I! WON'T! LOSE! GROWL!**_ _)"_

 _Fletchling pulled back its head and unleased an explosively loud Growl that slowed Froakie down, but he pushed threw it punching Fletchling away. Fletchling managed to hold on due to Froakie's doubly lowered attack and stopped his momentum by spreading his wings boosting his drag._

 _"_ _Froa Fro Froakie Froakie kie Froakie- Fro Froa! Fro Froa Froakie Froakie. (Have you considered seeing a shrink- no wait! An anger management course.)" Froakie mocked._

 _"_ _ **FLETCHLING!**_ _ **FLETCHLING!**_ _(_ _ **SHUT UP! TACKLE!**_ _)" Fletchling flew like a bullet delivering a critical hit knocking Froakie flat on his back._

 _"_ _Froakie you have to get up!" Kai begged. Froakie groaned and got on his feet crouching. "Quick!_ _ **Use Bubble!**_ _"_

 _"_ _Froakie! (Take this!)" Froakie released a slew of bubbles which Fletchling avoided with his aerial maneuverability._

 _"_ _ **Fletchling!**_ _(_ _ **Tackle!**_ _)" Fletchling shouted._

 _"_ _ **Froakie use Pound!**_ _" Kai answered back._

 _"_ _Froakie! (Roger!)" Froakie agreed._

 _Froakie remained in place with a glowing right front foot while Fletchling charged at him like a dive bomber, time seemed to slow down as the two landed their attacks on each other causing both of them to fly to the ground._

 _"_ _Fle! (Gah!)"_

 _"_ _Fro! (Oof!)"_

 _The two Pokémon lay on the ground covered in bruises and scratches as they slowly and wobbly got to their feet._

 _"_ _Fletchling. Fle Fletch Fle Fletchling Fletchling, Fle Fletch Fletchling Fletchling… Fle Fletch Fletchling ling. (I gotta say. On your own you were nothing, but that trainer of yours… He's really something else.) Fletchling commented._

 _"_ _Froa… Fro Froakie Fro. (Yeah… I guess he is.) Froakie replied._

 _Kai stood there with his hand on his chest. "My heart is racing. I'm only watching but this feels so exhilarating, I don't think I've ever felt this alive."_

 _"_ _So, you've finally realized it."_

 _Kai darted behind him to see Professor Sycamore standing there._

 _"_ _Professor?!"_

 _Sycamore smiled. "That feeling right now. That's the feeling of a Pokémon battle, when trainer and Pokémon fight as one. And if you will accept it, there's a way you and the Pokémon can win this battle."_

 _Kai stood there enthralled. "What is it?" The professor walked up to him and placed something in Kai's hand. He looked at it before staring at the professor who just nodded. Kai looked back at the battle seeing Froakie and Fletchling standing in a stalemate. "Hey Froakie!" Froakie looked back at Kai. "No matter what happens, this next move will end it! ARE YOU READY?!"_

 _Froakie smiled and nodded. "Kie. (Yeah.)"_

 _Fletchling witnessed this and got ready to attack. "Fle Fle Fletchling Fletchling Fletchling. (Now this is a battle of true strength.)" He murmured. "_ _ **Fletchling!**_ _(_ _ **Quick Attack!**_ _) Fletchling flew straight at Froakie at incredible speeds._

 _"_ _ON MY MARK!" Kai declared. Froakie stared at Fletchling with complete focus. He zoomed at Froakie mere inches away "_ _ **JUMP!**_ _" Froakie jumped in an instant causing Fletchling to fly under him. He looked up to see Froakie smiling and Fletchling returned it._

 _"_ _Fletchling. (Not bad.)" He whispered._

 _"_ _ **NOW USE POUND!**_ _"_

 _"_ _ **FROOOOAKIEEE!**_ _" Froakie's clenched front foot glowed brightly and delivered a powerful falling punch as he landed on top of Fletchling, driving him into the ground making dust fly. Froakie got on his knees struggling as he stared at the rising dust. There he witnessed Fletchling slowly rise up, aching and shaking but still having energy to battle barely. "FRO, FROAKIE! (OH, COME ON!)" Froakie complained, as a fast-spherical object flew past him hitting Fletchling on the head. "Froakie? (Is that?"_

 _Fletchling looked up to see the Poké ball open, his body starting to glow red. "FLE! FLETCH! FLETCHLIN-! (NO! WAIT! I DIDN'T WANT-!)" Fletchling was pulled into the ball as it closed and shook on the ground. Once… Twice… Three times… Click. The ball dulled as stars appeared and it stopped shaking. Fletchling was caught._

 _"_ _Phew. Now that was a battle." Kai confessed as he crouched down to Froakie's level. "Are you okay?"_

 _Froakie stared at Kai for a moment before looking away defiantly. "Kie. Fro Froa Froa Froa. (Yeah. Not like you'd care.)"_

 _Kai looked down remorsefully. "You're still mad at me. I understand, I shouldn't have said those things." Froakie didn't react. "Froakie… I'm not good at making friends and for a while… I've slumped into feeling contempt because I didn't feel comfortable caring about things. But I had a lot of fun today and after that battle, I want to go on a journey… But only if you're my partner."_

 _Froakie turned around to face Kai and looked him in the eye. "Fro… (Hmm…)"_

 _Kai got up. "I don't deserve to choose you, or any of the other starters. I had that opportunity and I wasted it. It's up to you." Froakie remained silent. "… I understand." Kai turned around to face the professor. "Well professor I-" A sudden weight on his right side cut him off, he turned his head to see Froakie perched on his shoulder._

 _"_ _Froa Fro Fro Froa Froakie Froakie Froakie… Froakie. (Well it's not like I've got anything better to do… Partner.)"_

 _Froakie smiled fondly and Kai returned it whole heartedly. "Well professor, if your option's still open."_

 _"_ _It was never off the table." Sycamore replied as he held a Pokédex and the Mega Ring in his hands passing them to Kai._

 _"_ _What are these?" Kai asked as Froakie looked at them with intrigue._

 _"_ _Well the red card device is a Pokédex, it stores and records data on Pokémon." Sycamore replied. "The jewel encrusted wristband on the other hand is much more interesting. It houses a keystone which is one of three items supposedly needed for Mega Evolution, I expect you to find the other two yourself."_

 _"_ _And they are?"_

 _"_ _A specific Pokémon's mega stone… And a strong bond between trainer and Pokémon."_

 _Kai put the Mega Ring on his left wrist and put the Pokédex away in his jeans pocket. "Thanks professor, but before I go on this journey there's one more thing I'll need."_

 _The professor leant back surprised. "Oh? And what's that?"_

 _"_ _I'll show you." Kai walked over to the Poké ball on the ground and opened it sending out Fletchling._

 _Fletchling looked at Kai who was smiling and Froakie who had an annoyed expression before going wide eyed gaping his beak._

 _"_ _ **FLETCHLING!**_ _(_ _ **WHAUGH!**_ _)" Fletchling screamed before falling flat on the ground._

 _"_ _Fro Froak Fro Froakie Fro Froa Froakie. (I think I may have hit him a little too hard.)" Froakie admitted._

 _"_ _Fletchling. Fletchling Fle Fletchling ling Fle Fletchling. Fle Fletchling. Fle Fletchling. (I've lost it. I was free but I lost and now I'm a slave again. I want to be free. I want to be free.)" Fletchling sobbed, his eyes going misty._

 _"_ _Froooakieeeee! (Draaama queeeen!)"_

 _Fletchling stared at Froakie furious. "_ _ **FLE!**_ _(_ _ **YOU!**_ _)"_

 _"_ _I can release you if you want?" Kai interrupted._

 _"_ _Fro? (Huh?)" Froakie reacted._

 _"_ _Fletchling? (Really?)" Fletchling asked hopefully._

 _Kai nodded as though he understood what Fletchling said. "I could let you go but I would like it if you stuck around." Kai kneeled down to see Fletchling eye to eye. "You see, I'm going on a journey soon and I can't do this alone. I'm going to need some strong Pokémon on my team and seeing you just now, you've definitely got what it takes. But I'm not gonna force you." Kai stood back up. "It's your choice: you can travel with me and Froakie all over Kalos, or you can stay here in peace. What's it gonna be?"_

 _Fletchling stared at the ground in thought. 'The whole region… With this guy… I can go anywhere.' Fletchling looked up and flew onto Kai's left shoulder chirping away._

 _"_ _Guess I'll take that as a yes." Kai assumed. "You two better get along now that you're basically brothers."_

 _Froakie and Fletchling looked at each other before looking away._

 _"_ _Froakie. Froa! (Brothers. Bleh!)" "Fletchling. Ling! (Brothers. Bleh!)"_

 _Kai chuckled and the professor cleared his throat drawing the attention of the trainer and his Pokémon._

 _"_ _Kai! Your adventure begins now! You are about to enter the beautiful Kalos region! Go and meet many Pokémon and people and fill your life with rich experiences! Now let's go visit the world of Pokémon!"_

* * *

"And that was the story of how my journey began." Kai concluded as he looked up into the sky. So much time had passed that it was now night time and the sky was filled with stars as well as Remnants moon.

"That story seems rather…" Weiss started to say.

"Cool!" Ruby answered.

"Funny!" Sun added.

"Bizarre." Weiss finished.

"Right because getting dropped into a death filled forest that forces you together through random chance is how everyone meets up." Greninja sarcastically remarked.

"So, what's this Mega Evolution you mentioned?" Yang asked. "Have you been holding out on us?"

"Let's just say I'm waiting for the right moment to show it off." Kai answered.

"I know that these Pokémon filled areas are secret but I would have thought we'd have heard of some of these places." Blake started to say. "Vaniville, Aquacorde, Routes, Kalos." Blake listed off.

"Well they are secret for a reason." Aegislash reinforced. "We wouldn't want any foolish individuals imposing against our way of life.

"How come the Pokémon were just saying their names?" Sun asked.

"Because under normal circumstances that is all Pokémon can do to communicate." Lucario began to explain. "However, Kai taught us to speak his language."

"He taught you?" Weiss said baffled.

"Well you see…" Kai began to say. "Quite a while ago now there were rumors of this one guy with green hair in this place called Unova who could understand Pokémon. I got curious so I looked into it and found other mysterious cases where Pokémon could talk; a couple of cases it was through telepathy, another case this one Meowth could just speak on its own. So, after months of training and a little help from Lucario's aura communication I have taught all of my Pokémon how to speak for our convenience. It's still new though, they only mastered it around… Four-ish months ago."

"That still seems implausible."

"Because a speaking ninja frog is any stranger than a ninja frog that can only say variations of its name." Greninja commented.

"Maybe one day we could all visit your home. If that's okay?" Ruby suggested.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind, the place sounds fun." Yang agreed.

"Well we'd love for you to visit." Noivern stated. "Except that's gonna be kind of hard considering that it's-" Noivern stopped himself.

"It's what?" Ruby asked.

"It's nothing! Everything's normal! Well not everything! But there's nothing that would make it impossible to visit!" Noivern quickly responded getting suspicious looks.

"Are you hiding something?" Weiss prodded.

Noivern started to sweat before wrapping himself in his wings nervously. "… Can we change the subject please?!"

"It's okay Noivern. In fact… They deserve to know." Kai stated.

Team RWBY and Sun looked at Kai confused and Kai's team looked at him concerned.

"Master… Is that a wise decision?" Lucario asked.

"Of course it is!" Greninja interrupted. "I don't even know why we haven't told them already."

"Because Greninja, it is hardly an easy topic to talk about in meager conversation." Aegislash answered.

"They can handle it." Talonflame reassured. "And if they can't… Well we can just fight them into submission if they don't like it."

"I don't want to hurt anybody!" Noivern defended.

"We shouldn't have to Noivern parfume. I believe their parfumes are capable of understanding our true parfume." Slurpuff admitted.

"Okay you guys are being super weird right now." Sun stated.

"Are you really hiding something? Or is this just some elaborate joke?" Weiss asked coldly.

"I think they're being serious." Blake argued.

"It's okay Kai, you can tell us anything." Ruby consolidated.

"Yeah tell us already! It's too late to act like it's nothing important." Yang explained.

Kai took a deep breath and faced his friends from Remnant. "… We aren't from Remnant."

"… What?" Weiss said confused.

"We're basically aliens!" Greninja summarized.

"That is hardly a detailed explanation." Lucario critiqued. "Though it is not entirely false either."

"You're not freaked out, are you?" Noivern asked concerningly.

"I believe it." Sun admitted.

"You do, just like that?" Yang wanted to confirm.

"I mean it does explain a lot. And it makes more sense than them being from a secret civilization."

"Well I think it sounds ridiculous." Weiss confessed.

"Surprising no one." Greninja assumed.

"Come on Weiss, I think them being aliens is pretty cool." Ruby admitted.

"Are you seriously believing this?!" Weiss critiqued. "Blake? Yang?"

"Meh, I'm not one to judge." Yang replied.

"It seems impossible, but so has everything else we've seen about Kai's Pokémon so far." Blake responded. "I know this seems unlikely but; Kai do you have any proof?"

"The funny thing is…" Kai got his rucksack and unzipped one of the pockets bringing out a folded piece of metal that was blue on top and beige underneath. "This here is called a 'Town Map' that shows all of Kalos, the place I'm from, take a look."

Kai opened it up to show a map of a large country that looked vaguely like a star with several markers and lines pointing out towns and routes. He passed it along so that everyone could get a good look.

"So, this is your home planet?" Ruby asked.

"Region. It's basically like a kingdom, the actual planet is called Earth." Kai corrected.

"Earth. As in the stuff the ground is made of." Sun summarized unimpressed.

"You know I have always thought our planet sounded lame." Greninja started to say. "I mean this place is called Remnant, that's a pretty cool name."

"A map is hardly solid evidence, it could be from a game or something." Weiss critiqued.

"If our world is a game, then this place is basically an anime. And not even a proper one, this is more of like a western CGI anime-inspired one."

"That's oddly specific Greninja." Aegislash commented.

"I just call it how I see it."

"Well then good thing I recently got this." Kai pulled out 'The Findings of a New World' and started flicking through the pages.

"A book?" Blake said with intrigue.

"Not just any book." Kai started to explain. "This book was written by someone here who came to my world. And the proof issss- here!" Kai got to a certain page and passed it around for people to read.

 _ **September 28th**_

 _ **Today marks my final day in the Johto region. I have unfortunately not come across a way back home to Remnant yet. However, I now know for a fact that my best course of action is track down one of the legendary Pokémon. I believe that they have the power that I seek, as such my next destination is the Hoenn region. I have heard rumour that on sacred ground lay two orbs that can control legendary Pokémon who manipulate sea and land itself! I shall write down my findings when I arrive. However, there is a fascinating Pokémon that I wish to draw, a trainer from a region known as Sinnoh was travelling through Johto as I happened to come across his path. By his side an extraordinary Pokémon, one that could sense and manipulate aura itself reminding me of Huntsman. Truly these Pokémon are magnificent creatures to possess aura themselves, could the Grimm perhaps have an untapped aura that we cannot recognise. Questions for later…**_

Under the entry was a charcoal drawing of a familiar Pokémon. It wasn't perfect but the body type, the matching dark patterns. There was no denying it.

"This is a drawing of Lucario." Weiss whispered.

"A highly inaccurate drawing." Lucario added.

"I didn't think it was that bad." Noivern said.

"The ears are too short, the tail is too long, and he made my aura sensing appendages look like pigtails."

"But other than that, it was a masterpiece." Greninja stated.

"Hardly."

"If we could go back on topic." Kai interrupted. "Have I convinced you yet? Because I'm gonna be honest I haven't got much else."

The Huntresses and Huntsman stared at the evidence in front of them in silence.

"Any time now people!" Talonflame rudely grunted.

"Do not rush them Talonflame it is a great deal to process." Aegislash responded. "If you could have some patience-"

"PATIENCE! I JUST SPENT ALL DAY SITTING ON A ROCK PILE! I THINK I'VE BEEN PATIENT ENOUGH FOR A LIFETIME! IF THEY'VE GOT A PROBLEM WITH US, JUST LET THEM SAY IT ALREADY!" Talonflame lit on fire in rage causing everyone to cautiously lean back, as a marshmallow landed on his head melting and burning. He turned his head slowly to Greninja holding the bag of marshmallows. "… Did you just throw a marshmallow at me?"

Greninja answered by throwing another marshmallow at the same spot. "I figured since you were on fire we could make smores off you."

Talonflame twitched. "… I am going to kill you. I am actually going to kill you."

Greninja scoffed. "I'd like to see you-"

Greninja was taken down by a flaming blur as the two Pokémon tumbled in a ball, before Talonflame pinned Greninja.

"HAD ENOUGH?!"

Greninja raised his front foot and launched Talonflame into the air with Scald, making him fall back on the rocky ground with a slap.

"Next time you try to pick a fight remember- type advantages exist!"

The students laughed to themselves and Talonflame stared at them with anger in his eyes. "IF YOU'VE GOT TIME TO LAUGH, THEN YOU HAVE TIME TO ANSWER KAI! SO, SPILL IT!"

"Well… I believe it." Ruby admitted.

"And how about you little miss sceptical." Greninja gestured at Weiss as he got back to his spot.

"There is evidence, but why are you here?" Weiss answered.

"Ah that parfume is one that our parfumes don't understand ourselves." Slurpuff answered.

"Which means?" Yang said confused.

"It's another long story." Kai started to say.

He then told the same story he told Ozpin when he was in his office.

"So, you're here by accident." Blake summarised.

"Yep." Kai answered.

"Does anyone else know that you're a space alien?" Sun bluntly asked.

"Only professor Ozpin, he took it surprisingly well. He offered me a place at Beacon so that I had somewhere safe to stay and learn about this world. Apparently he's also using his resources as a headmaster and Vale council member to get any information about getting me home."

"On that topic." Lucario interrupted. "Master, may I speak my mind?"

"Of course, you don't even have to ask."

"Very well. I believe it is in our best interests to leave Beacon academy."

"You want to leave?!" Ruby cried out.

"It is nothing personal Miss Rose, but I believe that we would have better odds of returning to Kalos if we keep moving. We've been here for close to ten weeks now, over two months and we have had no new information or events relating to us finding a way home."

"That's not technically true." Greninja interrupted. "Team Flare suddenly showed up, they must have some connection to this."

"I have considered that possibility however as we stand we have no way of tracking them. As such I believe our best bet is to travel around Vale and potentially all of Remnant, looking for information. Thanks to our training here, we should now be capable of fending for ourselves outside of backstreet alleys."

"So, you're just leaving us." Ruby responded despondently.

"Only if Master agrees. He is our trainer and all final decisions fall on him, all I am doing is sharing my opinion."

Kai sat there thinking seriously, as the rest of the students passed stares at each other.

"Look dude, don't feel you need to stay because of us." Sun stated.

Kai hummed to himself before puffing out air. "Thanks for the insight Lucario but I think we're fine staying here for the time being."

"May I ask why?" Lucario responded.

"Firstly, you just did. And second, here we have: resources, free food, a roof over our heads, people we can trust… And as much as I hate to admit it a backup plan."

"A backup plan?" Ruby repeated.

"It's just as Lucario said; there's been no news about getting home. Who knows this might be a one-way trip." Kai paused as he and his team took the reality in. "At least this way, as a Huntsman: I can travel freely, earn an income, live. I won't stop looking, I doubt I ever will, but there's a good chance that a way back might not appear until after graduation, this way when that day comes… I'll be ready."

Kai and his team sighed. "I still miss home though." Noivern said solemnly.

"We all do bro." Greninja responded.

Ruby stood up dramatically. "Then we'll help you!"

"I don't think you get how difficult this is." Kai reacted quietly.

"That doesn't matter! We're your friends, and friends help each other out. It doesn't matter how long it will take, we'll definitely get you back home someday!"

Kai and his team looked up to Ruby. "Thanks Ruby. That really means a lot." Kai stared up at the night sky bringing out his Poké balls. "All right I think it's time we hit the hay, it's pretty late."

"But I'm not tired." Noivern complained.

"Come to think of it, neither am I." Yang realised.

"Me either." Weiss agreed.

"Yeah that would be Slurpuff." Kai started to explain. "Her ability is called Sweet Veil. It prevents anyone she sees as an ally from falling asleep."

"Yes. My parfume is sweet enough to wake even the deepest sleeping parfume." Slurpuff confessed.

"But as sweet as it is it's just a quick fix. After I return her we've got a few minutes until the tiredness hits us, and when that happens we're gonna be out like lights wherever we drop."

"At least give us some time first to-" Weiss tried to say as Kai returned his team.

"Yeah we should hurry."

"You dolt, you could have waited until after we were in our sleeping bags."

"You know Weiss we could argue about this, ooor we could get into our pyjamas and sleeping bags before going to dream land half-dressed on the cold hard rock."

Weiss was going to argue but groaned instead rummaging through her stuff, everyone else doing the same and in a couple of minutes, everyone was fast asleep in their pyjamas and sleeping bags… Except.

Sun yawned as he lay on rock in his regular clothes, trying to get comfy.

"Sun. Sun!" A hushed voice called out to him. Sun looked around to see Blake in her pyjamas.

Blake's pajamas consisted of a black, long-sleeved, yukata-style shirt with white edging over a purple undershirt, and a matching skirt. A black obi was wrapped around her waist and tied with a black and white string

"So, you're still up huh?" Sun stated. "Weird how we're the only ones still awake."

"Not really. Faunus don't need as much sleep as humans." Blake responded.

"Really! I just thought I didn't need it as much as my friends."

"Sun can I talk to you?"

Sun leant up and stretched. "Sure, what is it?"

Blake hesitated. "After Kai revealed his secret to us, I have these other friends who I might want to tell the truth about myself to."

"So, what's the problem?"

"The problem is I'm not sure I can trust them."

"So, don't tell them."

"But they're my friends."

"So, do tell them."

Blake narrowed her eyes at Sun. "You're not making this easy to talk about."

"Well what do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me what you would do. What would you do with this big secret that you want to hide from most people but want to tell those closest to you."

"I'd just tell them." Sun quickly answered as he lay back down.

"You'd just tell them. It's that simple for you?"

"Well yeah, it's not like I'm the type of person to hide things about myself. The real question is what you want?"

"That's what I'm asking you."

"That won't help you though. The only thing that will help you is you. You know what I mean."

Blake stayed silent in deep thought. "I think so… I'm going to tell them." She decided.

"Great! Well good night!" Sun cheerfully stated as he closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head.

Blake smiled and turned away to her sleeping bag. "Good night." She whispered.

* * *

 **So what did you think of Kai's beginnings? I think I should also point out my reasoning on for the Pokémon communication. Honestly in most stories I've read, Pokémon speaking is an interesting concept, but nine times out of ten the reason it happens is because ' _The change in worlds lets them speak_ ' which doesn't make sense and also fells a little like a cop out.**

 **So in my story they learned English, which again I hope isn't to extreme but considering my reasons listed in the story and also how Pokémon speak in a lot of the spin-off material (Mystery Dungeon and Poképark come to mind) I thought my reason was good enough.**

 **Either way, Kai's secret is out and the Remedial Lesson arc concludes next chapter.**

 **So until next time this is Kallerston, signing out!**


	20. Chapter 19: Many happy returns

**-Morning, Emerald Forest-**

"PARFUME!"

A strong smelling parfume diffused through the air making the sleeping Huntresses and Huntsman wake up with a jolt, inhaling deeply and coughing.

"What's that smell?" Yang coughed.

"It's like I walked into a perfume aisle… Or a sweet shop?" Ruby questioned.

"Good parfume!" Slurpuff greeted the group.

"Wait, you woke us up?" Sun asked. Slurpuff nodded.

"What time is it?" Weiss asked as she left her sleeping bag and went for her backpack picking up her scroll. "SIX THIRTY! That's even earlier then when Ruby wakes us up!"

"Yeah, what's the big idea?" Yang asked Slurpuff.

"Good morning!" The group looked to the other edge of the rocks to see Kai walking towards them fully dressed. "Sleep well?"

"We were!" Yang answered annoyed.

"Why did you feel the need to wake us up?" Weiss asked grumpily.

"If it was up to me I would have let you sleep in. But I just got a message." Kai started to explain as he grabbed his scroll from his pocket opening it up. "Dear students, a Bullhead will arrive at your location to pick you up at seven AM sharp. Please be ready to leave by then, from Professor Ozpin. P.S. Congratulations on surviving."

"How come we didn't get messages?"

"Did you check?"

"Of course we-" Weiss went through her scroll and paused when she saw she received a new message.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that none of you left your scrolls on before you went to sleep." The rest of the group got their scrolls, turning them on checking the message. "I'll take that as a yes. All right people get changed, breakfast will be in fifteen minutes I'll meet you over there, don't be late."

Kai walked away with Slurpuff following him over the rocks.

"Is it just me or does Kai seem more… Authoritative?" Blake asked.

"He did tell us who he really is. Maybe he feels more relaxed around us." Ruby suggested.

"Or maybe it finally kicked in that he killed some Grimm and he's enjoying the moment." Sun assumed.

"Whatever it is, I kind of like it." Yang admitted. "Barring waking us up early."

"Well we should probably get changed now." Ruby suggested as the four girls looked at Sun.

"What?" Sun acted confused.

"A little privacy." Yang stated.

"You didn't seem to care last night."

"We were in a rush, and it was dark. Since we have time now, have some common decency." Weiss berated.

"All right fine, whatever, I'll just go hang out with Kai. Later." Sun darted off over the rocks leaving the girls alone.

Sun arrived over the rocks to see Kai and the rest of his team sat around a circle. In the middle Slurpuff was in her chef's attire holding a frying pan cooking a fry up with: scrambled eggs, bacon and fried bread instead of toast. Kai was taking out some food he brought with him, specifically: a bag of apple slices, a couple of bananas, a bag of grapes, some bottles of water and a box of four chocolate chip muffins.

"Come ooon…" Greninja groaned.

"No! We will wait until all our parfumes are together." Slurpuff stated.

"But I'm hungry now." Greninja looked to his family for sympathy. He got none. He sighed before looking at the bag of apple slices and cautiously reached his front foot for them. A sizzling sound was heard, before Slurpuff slammed the frying pan on Greninja's foot. " **JAAAAAA!** "

Slurpuff swivelled the frying pan around herself and caught her fry up as it fell from the sky. "No means no, Greninja parfume."

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO CRUSH MY FOOT!" Greninja held his front foot in his other front foot blowing on it to ease the pain.

"Meh. Your parfume could handle worse."

"Am I interrupting?" Sun asked nervously gaining everyone's attention.

"Oh Sun! Come join us." Kai invited, as Sun sat down. "Slurpuff will just be a couple of minutes."

Noivern placed down six metal bowls around his family and a pile of disposable plates and cutlery in front of Kai. "Sorry for waking you all up." Noivern apologised.

Sun shrugged. "No biggie. Yang and Weiss were the only ones who seemed to mind."

"I would personally like to thank you for taking care of our Master when we were separated." Lucario thanked. "It was… Concerning thinking about his safety. I'm thankful that you were there for him."

"Again it's no problem, I was just doing the right thing. Besides I should really thank Kai, he did save me."

"Well. I only could because you helped me figure out my semblance." Kai modestly replied.

"About that. What exactly is it if it's not a danger sensor?"

Kai put his chin on his fist. "How can I put this?" Kai paused for thought. "I think it's… Perception."

"Per- what?"

"Perception." Lucario corrected. "The ability to: see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses."

Kai nodded in agreement. "In a nutshell; I can take in information around me and process it faster than normal, even on a subconscious level. The headaches were because I resisted it originally and my senses got overloaded, now I think I can control it… Although I need to panic in order for it to work."

"Really, that's kind of odd." Sun stated. "I mean I need to concentrate for my semblance but getting spooked?"

Kai shrugged. "At least it's something."

"I think it's pretty cool." Noivern admitted.

"Meh, I give it a six out of ten." Greninja critiqued. "It's practical but it isn't exactly flashy you know."

"Practicality is ultimately more useful than brute strength Greninja." Lucario commented. "Besides, with his semblance Master can scout out weaknesses and patterns to develop strategies to help us fight better. For a strategist like himself, I believe his semblance is perfect."

"Yeah… Strategist…" Kai whispered to himself.

"Is something troubling you Sire? You've gone unusually quiet." Aegislash asked concerned.

"Hmm? Oh nothing's wrong. I was just thinking of something I might want to look into back at Beacon."

"And what might that be?"

Before Kai could answer Team RWBY appeared over the rocks, in their combat attire.

"Mmm… That smells so good!" Ruby cheered.

"Are you alright? We heard screaming earlier." Blake commented.

"Yeah Greninja. You wouldn't happen to know anything about screaming would you?!" Talonflame taunted.

Greninja looked away and reached for the fruit. "Well now that everyone's here-"

A loud clang was heard as Slurpuff slammed to frying pan on the ground making Greninja flinch and recoil.

"Guest parfumes first." Slurpuff stated, as Greninja backed away slowly.

Slurpuff slowly tipped the frying pan and placed suitable portions of food on the plates before Noivern passed them around.

"Thank you." Ruby thanked as she started digging in.

"Has she spat in this food?" Weiss asked concerningly.

Slurpuff shook her head. "No, this parfume was fine without it."

Weiss hesitated before she and the rest of her team and Sun started digging in. Slurpuff then placed the remaining food in Talonflame, Lucario and Aegislash's bowls. The three of them dug in, Lucario in particular ate ravenously.

"Mmm… Delicious as always Slurpuff." Lucario commented as Slurpuff took off her chef outfit and walked to Kai who passed her a chocolate chip muffin, the two tapped two of them together as if they were clinking glasses before eating them. That left Greninja and Noivern to eat all the fruit in front of them.

Several minutes passed and the group had finished eating, they were currently sitting together sharing stories.

"Then I kept shooting Crescent Rose and used the momentum to keep me constantly moving as I kept cutting all the Grimm's heads off!" Ruby energetically explained. "When I was done there were a lot of bullet shells on the ground, which were a pain to pick up. But it was worth it seeing dad's face! He was so proud… Or might have been having a heart attack… Or both?"

"Yep, that's my sister for you." Yang complimented.

"Wait, so if you could handle an entire: army? Pack? Pride? Cornucopia? A group of Grimm. How come I had to do most of the work when they ambushed you?" Greninja commented.

"Actually, at last count I had one more than you."

"Including the one I beheaded to save you."

"Okay so it's a tie."

"The only people who believe in ties are people who don't want to admit they've lost."

"In the same way that counting knockouts isn't a competition if you're losing?" Lucario reminded.

"You said at the beginning it wasn't a competition Lucario, not me."

Lucario sighed. "It appears informing you of your hypocrisy is seemingly impossible."

Greninja shrugged. "You're just upset because you lost the argument."

A sudden gust of wind interrupted the conversation when a Bullhead passed over their heads landing close to them.

"What is that?!" Noivern panicked.

"I believe that's our ride." Kai stated.

The group slowly got up and headed towards the Bullhead when the door opened revealing a familiar face.

"Miss Goodwitch?!" Team RWBY and Kai exclaimed.

"Err… Who?" Noivern said confused.

Miss Goodwitch stepped out. "Good morning students and…" She paused when she saw Kai's team. "… Pokémon."

"How did you escape the crash?" Blake asked.

"Because students, there was no Bullhead crash. The entire incident was staged."

"… Did you say staged?" Kai asked hesitantly.

"Yes I did. The crash was perfectly controlled and designed to incapacitate you, so that you could be separated from each other."

"So you knocked us out?" Sun asked slightly alarmed.

"It was necessary to put you in a stressful scenario, not only that but I used this opportunity to exhibit Kai's punishment."

"My what now?" Kai quickly said.

"Given how you seem to rely on them too much, I took the liberty to separate yourself from your Pokémon and spread them around the area."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Talonflame shouted angrily.

"You seem surprised Talonflame." Lucario commented.

"And you're not!" Talonflame responded as Lucario stayed quiet, allowing Talonflame to come to a realisation. "YOU KNEW!"

"I sensed her aura when she retrieved us. However I sensed no malicious intent from her, so I went along with her plan."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! SHE STOLE US! LEFT US IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! AND DIDN'T GIVE KAI ANY MEANS TO DEFEND HIMSELF!"

"That is not completely true." Goodwitch interrupted getting Talonflame's attention. "Each of you were placed in a safe proximity that was relatively close to one of the students increasing the likelihood of you being found. And in case you weren't, I took the liberty of sending one of you out at random to find the others."

"WHO?!"

Talonflame stared around at his team eying them one by one before Slurpuff stepped forward with a goofy grin.

"How else did you think my parfume managed to leave my ball parfume?" She reasoned.

"YOU WERE IN ON IT TOO!"

Goodwitch cleared her throat regaining everyone's attention. "As for Kai's safety. I took it upon myself to leave him close by Mr Wukong so that he would have someone to watch his back. Though I must say Mr Emblem, you did better than I had anticipated, finally using your semblance will be a big step in your studies."

"How did you know that?" Kai asked suspiciously.

"Mr Emblem, you didn't think that we would leave you completely unsupervised."

Goodwitch pulled out a large black scroll that appeared more like a tablet than a phone. She opened it up which showed several videos of the group throughout yesterday.

"We were being watched." Kai realised, and Miss Goodwitch nodded.

"Oh I get it now!" Noivern declared. "The crash wasn't really a crash, our separation wasn't really a separation, so any danger with those monsters was staged too."

"Quite the opposite really. The Grimm here are just as deadly as the ones out in the wild, any threats to your life would have been real." Goodwitch corrected.

Noivern drooped his head. "How exactly does this place not get shut down by safety regulations?"

"A valid question Noivern. One that even I am becoming sceptical of the answer to." Aegislash added.

"Being a Huntsman is a dangerous career. If we do not train you this severely, then in the outside world, you would more than likely perish immediately." Goodwitch explained, creating a tense and quiet and atmosphere. "Now then, if there aren't any more interruptions, we should be making our way back to Beacon. Classes are still on today even for you."

The students groaned as Kai returned his Pokémon and the students entered the Bullhead.

* * *

"And there I was! Barricaded behind a wooden door as the Grimm tried to break in. Armed with nothing but: my wits, my weapon, and my blah! Blah blah blah, blah blah blah."

Team RWBY were dressed in their uniform and currently in their first lesson of the day, Professor Port's Grimm Studies. Kai and Sun were in a different classes from them this period but after everything that had happened, a lesson like Port's really didn't stimulate them. Weiss was trying to keep her eyes open as she held her head in her hands.

"Are you okay Weiss? Normally you're really invested in Port's lessons." Pyrrha asked her as the rest of team JNPR stared at her and her team.

"We just had a rough time yesterday and waking up early to come to lesson isn't really helping." Weiss explained.

"Well at least you're doing better than your other teammates." Ren consolidated as he gestured to Ruby and Yang who were currently sleeping side by side. Blake looked just as bad as Weiss and turned to team JNPR.

"I'm not actually tired, this lesson is just really boring." Blake stated to the disapproval of Weiss. "Actually, there's something I want to tell you four later."

"Why not just tell us now?" Nora asked. "It's not like there's much happening."

"Because it's important." Blake said slightly louder causing her to look around herself cautiously.

"This is really serious isn't it?" Jaune asked concerned.

"Just come to our dorm at break, and make sure you're alone." Blake said seriously, a thud to her side interrupted her as Weiss had joined her teammates in dreamland.

"And she's finally reached her limit." Nora excitedly commentated.

* * *

Kai meanwhile was having a more exciting lesson. He was still recovering from waking up early, but his travels in Kalos meant that he had an easier time adjusting than other people. But what helped in this case was he was in Miss Goodwitch's Combat Practice… Which meant a fight was going on.

The arena had been opened up once again giving students more space, in particular the two that were fighting right now.

One of them was a guy wearing brown armour with a silver trim similar to Cardin's but without the bird symbol, over a plain back T-Shirt and navy blue jeans. He had a purple Mohawk and his weapon of choice was a pair of short swords that had a red trim on their edges.

The other student was a girl wearing a dark green hoodie and black Capri pants, with long black hair in a ponytail that went down just under her shoulders. Her weapon was a long metal spear that had a wide sharp tip that was forked similarly to a trident.

The boy got close furiously cutting at the girl. The girl held her hands far apart using as much of the spear's pole to block. The boy slashed twice in the centre of the spear then threw one of his swords in the air, catching it sideways then stabbing the girl to throw her off. The boy threw the blade again catching it with the blade facing upwards before delivering a left, right, left serious of slashes. The girl flicked her spear in an arc as the boy front flipped over her throwing and catching his swords so the blades faced behind him, he landed and punched the girl in the back of the head, then the back of the leg making her kneel. She swung her spear at the boy when he twirled his swords in his hands so that the blades were facing in front of him, he trapped the spear in-between them forcing it out of the girls hands as he kicked her in the chest knocking her on the her back. The girl winced when the boy stomped on her chest crossing his swords just over her throat. The boy smirked and the girl hit the ground with her fist annoyed while grunting, a buzzer went off and the lights in the amphitheatre came on.

"And that's the match." Miss Goodwitch declared. The boy took his foot of the girl and offered his hand which she took to get herself up. "Mr Cross, excellent performance. Miss Berd, when dealing with a short-range weapon, focusing on your spears range instead of on defence might suit you better." The girl nodded and the boy fist pumped the air as the two left the arena.

 _'_ _Twin short swords and a spear.'_ Kai thought. _'They look cool but they're not right either. Okay so what is right? I don't know? Well think of something! Maybe… A two handed long sword? Gonna be difficult to throw Poké balls when you're lugging a sword with both hands. Okay smart guy, you think of something. I am you, you idiot! Don't yell at me!'_

"All right students, any more volunteers?" Miss Goodwitch asked interrupting Kai's internal conflict.

 _'_ _Well I guess now's a good time to start practicing my semblance.'_ Kai raised his hand along with several others in the class.

"Let's see…" Miss Goodwitch paused as she scanned the room for volunteers. "Mr Fowl and Mr Emblem, please head down to the podium."

Several disappointed aw's were heard as hands came back down and Kai made his way down. When he made it down his opponent had already arrived.

Mr Fowl was a faunus, who had a wing-like cape down his back made of black feathers which he currently had his hands behind. His skin was very pale though it was hard to see since he wore dark grey armour over his upper body, and red pants that were tucked into black knee-high leather boots that covered most of his legs. This left his pale face exposed which was young but stern with bags under his eyes, topped off with raven coloured hair down to his shoulders that covered the right side of his face.

Kai walked up to him and held his hand out. "Hi, the names Kai. I don't think I've seen you around."

Mr Fowl stared at him before smirking. "Kai, I've heard rumours about you."

"Rumours?" Kai said cautiously retracting his hand.

"I suppose introducing myself might explain a few things. My name is Avery Fowl, and I have come from Shade Academy in Vacuo to participate in the Vytal festival tournament."

"Oh, so you must have come here on Friday. Well, welcome I guess… Sorry I'm not the best with talking to new people."

"It is quite alright, though I am curious to know if the rumours are true. The rumours of a monster commander training as a Huntsman."

"Well they're Pocket Monsters or Pokémon and I prefer trainer than monster commander, but yeah that sounds about right."

Avery smirked. "Then this shall be fun." He stepped back making Kai think.

 _'_ _This guy seems sort of creepy, but nice… I hope.'_ Avery and Kai got in position. _'I don't know much about him, that's fine my semblance can fix that if I can get it to work. Right now though all I know is that he's a bird faunus which might give him flying type properties and he's wearing armour so… a Flying/Steel type?'_

"Are both students ready?" Miss Goodwitch asked.

"Ready." The two huntsman said simultaneously as their images appeared and the room dimmed.

 _'_ _All things considered, my best choice right now is probably-'_

"Begin!" Goodwitch declared as Kai threw a Poké ball immediately.

"Slurpuff, get ready to rock!" Kai ordered as the ball opened sending out Slurpuff.

"Mmm." Slurpuff hummed sniffing the air, as faint murmurs of confusion could be heard from the class. "So I will be facing Murkrow parfume."

Avery looked in confusion and fascination. "Murkrow parfume?"

"Slurpuff gives people nicknames based on their smell. You must smell like this bird we've come across before called a Murkrow." Kai explained.

Avery smiled. "I see. Though I am much more related to a rook than a crow. Let me show you." Avery opened up his wing cape and flapped it down giving him a burst of speed.

"He's fast!" Kai cried out in surprise.

Avery jumped up in the air and spread out his arms revealing they were just as pale as his face except for the hands and wrists which were covered in leather gloves with sharp metal claws at the tips of the fingers.

"Hmm?" Slurpuff mumbled in response to Avery above her.

Avery flapped his cape causing him to fall down quickly and gracefully, slashing at Slurpuff with both claws before safely jumping back.

" **Slurpuff use Flamethrower!** " Kai ordered and Slurpuff spewed a cone of flames dealing good damage against Avery making him pant in place.

"My armour, I can still feel the heat of that attack on my skin." Avery groaned.

"That would be because of type effectiveness." Kai started to explain. "In short, your armour gives you a weakness to fire type Pokémon moves like Flamethrower."

Avery chuckled. "Fascinating. Well let's try this!" Avery flapped his cape and ran to Slurpuff with his claws raised, he swiped at Slurpuff furiously scratching Slurpuff before slashing her into the air.

" **Slurpuff use Flamethrower again!** "

Slurpuff immediately used Flamethrower in the air aiming it down at Avery.

"Not this time!" Avery whipped his cape against the ground creating a gust of wind blowing the flames away.

"What?" Kai reacted in shock.

"My Flame parfume!" Slurpuff cried out as her feet landed on the ground.

Avery smiled showing his teeth before flapping his cape running to Slurpuff.

 _'_ _He can counter Flamethrower! But Dazzling Gleam and Energy Ball won't do much damage because of his finicky type. This isn't my regular strategy, but it's my best bet.'_

" **Slurpuff use Flamethrower!** "

Slurpuff used Flamethrower and Avery flapped his cape against the ground lifting him into the air then opening it to let him glide above Slurpuff dodging the attack. He arrived directly above Slurpuff and flapped his cape making him slam into Slurpuff from the air, making her flip backwards onto her front.

"What a shame. After hearing your rumours I expected something more interesting." Avery critiqued before noticing Kai's aura hadn't even dropped yet. "I see, so that's your strategy."

Kai stood confused looking at Slurpuff on the floor. "Slurpuff I- I-"

 _'_ _Come on Kai think! You can do this, you just need to-'_

Kai was slashed in his left cheek followed by the right before getting kicked in the gut knocking him away. Kai recovered and looked at Avery running towards him.

"You won't distract me any longer with your monsters! Prepare yourself Kai Emblem!"

Kai stared at Avery running at him, then at Slurpuff who was starting to get up. Kai breathed in and out shaking, his eyes glowing blue.

 _'_ _Here we go.'_

Avery slashed at Kai from the left, as Kai dodged to his left. Kai then ducked avoiding right slash, then jumped back keeping far enough away to dodge another two swipes. Avery pulled back his left claw and thrusted it at Kai's face, Kai blocked the attack with his right arm pushing it to the side before grabbing Avery's arm with both hands throwing him over his shoulder and onto the ground using his own momentum against him.

"How…? Did you…?" Avery tried to say as he got up. Kai cautiously walked back to get some distance.

"You used that same fury swipes move on Slurpuff." Kai interrupted. "Once I recognised it I knew the exact timing of your swings."

Avery growled and flapped his cape running around Kai, Kai's perception allowed him to focus on the wing cape where he noticed its position and how the wind moved across it.

 _'_ _Clever.'_ Kai thought.

Avery jumped at Kai in mid-air with an outstretched leg which Kai dodged, as he landed Avery spun on his leg and spun kick at Kai, he pushed away the leg struck Avery in the face with his palm making him flinch before punching him in the throat.

"This is all wrong, your monsters were supposed to be your strength." Avery complained.

"First it's Pokémon, second they are my strength, and third let's just say I've had a recent enlightening experience that effects how I fight." Kai explained. "Just like how you use your wing cape to give you less air resistance."

"What?! How did you know about that?! I've gathered info about you for two days, but you've just met me now!"

"Let's just say it's easy to notice these things when you pay attention."

Avery gave a battle cry and charged at Kai with both of his claws out, Kai got into a defensive stance before faking Avery out by punting him in his armoured chest when he got close, making him miss his attack pushing him to the side. Kai saw his chance and stood on his feather cape making him come to a holt with an annoyed grunt.

"What do you think you're doing? Even though you're miraculously turning this fight, you don't have the power to beat me! Give up already!" Avery cried out.

"I don't have the power. But she does." Kai bluntly stated.

Avery was confused but looked behind him to see Slurpuff. "No!"

" **Flame parfume!** " Slurpuff unleashed Flamethrower against Avery but with Kai on his cape, he couldn't defend himself. He took the attack and screamed as Kai took his foot of his cape making him fall to the ground.

A buzzer went off and the lights came back on, Slurpuff waddled to Kai where he patted her on the head as Miss Goodwitch presented herself to the class.

"And that's the match." Goodwitch declared. "Mr Emblem, you are finally starting to show some improvement fighting alone though you lack the ability to finish someone off. Mr Fowl, you showed an excellent performance early on however you failed to adapt when you started losing. In future you should try to improvise or come up with a secondary fighting strategy."

Avery looked down in disappointment when Kai offered him his hand.

"I lost my first match in this class too so I know how you feel, but this was still a good fight." Kai complimented.

"Yes Murkrow parfume. Your parfume was so great that my parfume alone could not deal with it." Slurpuff commented.

Avery hesitated but grabbed Kai's arm helping him up. "I suppose I still have much to learn Kai Emblem."

"Don't we all Avery Fowl." Kai and Slurpuff smiled at Avery and for the first time he smiled.

 _'_ _Weaponised gloves… Now there's an idea.'_ Kai thought.

"All right students back to your seats. Any more volunteers?"

* * *

It was break and Kai was slowly walking along a corridor with rooms to the side of him. He had his scroll in front of him, looking at a message from Blake when speak of the devil.

"There you are Blake!" Kai said and got her attention.

"Kai, good you showed up." Blake responded.

"Well it's not like you to send out a message especially to me exclusively. Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just… I've invited Team JNPR here to tell them about me being a faunus."

"Oh… Well… Congratulations." Kai fumbled. "Wait! I can say that better."

"Kai it's fine." Blake reassured. "I'm ready to tell them."

"What made you decide that? If it isn't too personal."

"Actually, you did." Kai looked at Blake with confusion. "After you told us about how you came from another world, it made me think about my secret and how I should trust my friends with it."

"Well that's great but why am I here?"

"Since you told us I figured you might want to tell Team JNPR, I thought it might be easier on the two of us if we tell them at the same time."

"And by that you mean: you being a faunus won't be cared as much as me being an alien."

"When you put it like that…"

The two shared a kind smile at their joke as they turned to the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Kai?" Jaune said as his team came up behind him. "You're here too?"

"Everything will make sense when you come inside." Blake reassured.

Team JNPR gave each other concerned looks as Blake opened the door to her teams' dorm, letting people in. It was Kai's first time in Team RWBY's room and all he could think was-

"Is that safe?" He pointed to the bunk beds.

"Probably… Maybe." Blake awkwardly admitted as everyone made their way in.

"So, what is this about?" Nora bluntly asked. "Wait are you two dating?! Is that why the two of you are here alone!"

Blakes eyes opened wide while Kai's face flushed red, as he brought his hat down over his face.

"That is not what this is about at all!" Blake denied.

"Nora!" Ren berated.

"What I'm only joking! You should have seen the looks on your faces!" Nora laughed as Blake gave Nora an upset look while Kai slowly put his hat back on his head.

"Anyway, there's something the two of us need to tell you." Blake started to say.

"WE HAVEN'T-" Kai's voice cracked as he still suffered from embarrassment. He cleared his throat and took a breath. "We haven't been completely honest with you."

"Is it bad?" Pyrrha asked cautiously.

"Well not bad, but not good, it's… Neutral."

"Neutral?" Jaune replied confused.

"Well yes. It's not important but might affect the way you look at us… Why can I not say it like I did yesterday."

"It's okay Kai, I'll go first." Blake interrupted as she stepped forward. "I think it's better if I show you."

"Show us what?" Jaune asked nervously. Blake sighed and took off her bow, revealing her cat ears. "… Oh."

"And I am not from this planet." Kai confessed.

"…Huh?"

Team JNPR found somewhere to sit down as they listened attentively to Blake and Kai telling their stories. How Blake was once a member of the White Fang before it turned violent and how Kai came from an entirely different world called Kalos but somehow ended up in Remnant. The team was calm and didn't respond much only asking the occasional question, and when Blake and Kai were done talking they stood up.

"That's a lot to take in." Jaune admitted. "I- I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything Jaune." Pyrrha comforted. "Blake and Kai are still the same people who we became friends with, we just… Know a little more about them that's all."

"I don't know why you'd try to hide it though." Nora started to say. "If I were an ex-criminal or an alien I would walk all over the place going. _"_ Grr! I'm an alien criminal! Submit to my desires or I will attack and or probe you! Mwahahaha!"

"Yeaaah. Please don't tell anyone about this." Kai begged.

"You don't need to worry. Your secret is safe with us." Ren promised.

"Good that makes me feel a lot better actually." Blake said relieved as she put her bow back on as the bell went.

"Aw! Break is over!" Nora whined.

"There is always tomorrow Nora." Ren reminded.

"I can't wait that long!"

Pyrrha opened the door and everyone slowly started making their way out when they bumped into someone.

"Professor Ozpin!" The students shouted in surprise.

"Good afternoon students, I won't keep you for long. I just need to speak with Kai for a moment in private." Ozpin said calmly getting concerned looks from the others.

"It's fine guys really, get to class. I don't want you to be late on my behalf." Kai pushed and the others left him and Ozpin alone in the corridor.

"I assume that you have just told Team JNPR your true background, just as you did with Team RWBY and Mr Wukong." Ozpin assumed.

"Can you prove it?"

"This is my school nothing goes on without me knowing about it… And there were cameras in the Emerald Forest and the school corridors that also have sound recording." Ozpin pointed to a hidden camera at the edge of the corridor.

"Okay I did." Kai admitted.

"Do you trust them to keep your secret?"

"Yes, I do."

"Hmm… Very well."

Kai looked surprised. "And you're okay with me telling people?"

"In our meeting, you only told me not to tell people about you unless you gave me permission. You didn't put such a restraint on yourself."

"That is true." Kai admitted. "And you're really okay with it."

"It's your life Kai, why should it matter to me who you tell about it." Ozpin started to walk away. "However, there may come a time where as I have said I may need your permission to tell trustworthy friends about you. I hope that when that day comes, you will trust me as much as you trust your friends." Ozpin walked around the corner leaving Kai all alone.

"Hmph. Friends, honestly it feels weird calling them that." Kai admitted before sighing in relief.

* * *

 **And that was the 'Remedial lesson arc'. What did you all think?**

 **I had two primary aims with this arc: improve the relationship between Team RWBY and Kai's team, and finally confirm Kai's semblance.**

 **Speaking of the latter, I'll share some behind-the-scenes details on how I came up with perception. The initial idea came from a feature in Sun and Moon where on the bottom screen you could see a Pokémon's abilities and stat changes. From there it developed into something more developed akin to say 'spidey sense' and the rest is history.**

 **As for what's next, it's going to be another original arc this one being called the 'End of semester arc'. This one will be a bit slower than others so far but will have some important and engaging moments so I hope it gains your continued support.**

 **So until next time this is Kallerston, signing out!**


	21. Chapter 20: The drawing board

**So before I begin, I need to apologise. Looking back at some of my past reviews I've noticed that there are some questions that I haven't answered, so I'm answering them all right here.**

 **Tejerina: Yes. Honestly surprised that was the reference you noticed.**

 **Guest:** **I've said it before and I'll say it again. No, the RWBY cast will not be getting Pokémon unfortunately.**

 **UltimateDeku: While it's an interesting idea that even Greninja brought up, Kai will be the only one with aura, not his Pokémon.**

 **Lone Wolves:** **Honestly that's just a coincidence. My only experience with Fire Emblem was when I played through the first third of Awakening, so I don't think I'm knowledgeable enough to make a Fire Emblem Fan Fiction.**

 **Alright, sorry for the delay. Without further ado, let's get the first chapter of this new arc rolling.**

* * *

 **-Afternoon, Beacon Academy-**

 _ **October 13th**_

 _ **After arriving in Hoenn I immediately headed to Mt Pyre, a location said to hold the key to controlling the legendary Pokémon of the sea and the land. However the mountain was much more dreadful than I ever could have predicted. The mountain served home to a Pokémon cemetery where the locals would pay respects. Up until now I had not even comprehended the idea of Pokémon dying, I had always envisioned them as magnificent creatures that would live forever unless killed by outside forces, similar to how Grimm could live for hundreds or years without tiring. Regardless, I made my way through and reached the top where a couple waited for me, guarding two peculiar coloured orbs. However they would not let me pass any further, I explained my situation to them but still they refused, stating how the power of the legendary Pokémon wouldn't help me. It was infuriating! I was not going to abuse their power for malicious deeds, my heart was pure and yet I was forced away. I do not know what my next move is, but I hope that the next people I meet are more hospitable.**_

Under the entry was a drawing of Mt Pyre, a Pokémon tombstone and the two orbs, one with a 'Ω' symbol and one with a 'α' symbol. Kai stared at them with intrigue from inside an empty lecture theatre as he took a sip from a bottle of water. An alarm went off and Kai checked his scroll to see a timer at 00:00:00.

"Breaks over." Kai muttered to himself and he sighed as he put his scroll in his pocket and his book in his bag. From across the table he saw his personal project.

It looked like a pair of black mechanical arms. The hands were more of a grey colour and had four segmented fingers and a thumb on each hand. On the back of each hand was a glass dome and on the hands palm was what looked like a round camera shutter.

Kai walked up to the arms and looked at them for a brief minute. "Where were we?" He said to himself before taking a deep breath.

 _'_ _Come on Kai if you don't finish this you will fail. If you fail then you will most likely be kicked out of this school. If you do that you will die! You will leave your family all alone, you will disappoint everyone, and-'_ Kai continuously gave himself these stressful thoughts and he began panting before controlling his breath, his eyes glowing blue.

"This semblance is great and all, but there must be an easier way to get it to work." Kai moaned. He examined the arms and pulled the hand off the right arm revealing them to be connected by a thick wire. "All right let's see." Kai used his perception to see a spring trap mechanism inside of the arm, he placed his hand inside and wrapped his fingers around five individual elastic strings. He tightened his fingers and he saw the vibrations pass along the wire, making the fingers and thumb on the hand clench. "Good, good." Kai murmured before pushing the hand back into the arm and aiming it at one of the Grimm posters pulling his fingers back fully… But nothing happened. "Right, that was the problem." Kai moaned as he despondedly lowered his arm.

"Having trouble with your weapon?"

Kai looked across the empty room to see Professor Port walking towards him.

"Oh professor. I'm just… Working out some kinks."

"I see." Port walked up next to Kai. "You know, when I was a young Huntsman…"

 _'_ _Oh boy, here we go again.'_ Kai thought unenthusiastically.

"I remember one particular occasion when my own weapon started acting up. It couldn't have been at a worse time too, because right in front of me was this enormous blah! Blah blah blah blah…"

 _'_ _He's standing right there, I must… Concentrate.'_ Kai thought to himself as he tried to keep his attention focused on Port.

"Blah blah blah blah. Blah would have been blah, were it not for the blah arrival of a good friend of mine. Do you understand why I'm telling you this?"

Kai looked at Port. "Yeah… Sure…" Port leaned in closer disapprovingly. "Okay no. I don't get it."

Port leaned back. "The point I'm trying to make is that for three weeks now, you've been coming to my room when it's empty to work on making your weapon. Now there's nothing wrong with that, it is actually quite admirable. In fact it reminds me of a story from my youth…"

 _'_ _And we're still not done yet.'_

"But this is not my story we're talking about. It's yours Mr Emblem." At the sound of his name Kai got more alert and invested. "Arriving here must have been hard for you especially arriving late, but you don't need to stress yourself out and keep yourself isolated to keep working and moving forward. Sometimes enjoying time with a friend can help you out when the time comes."

"Professor I get what you're saying now, but hanging out with other people isn't exactly something I'm completely comfortable with… Unless!" Kai suddenly got up putting his metal arms in his bag, heading out of the room.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"To see a friend about something!" Kai answered as he left the room.

Port put his hands behind his back and hummed to himself. "Still got it."

* * *

Team RWBY was hanging out in their dorm, Ruby was lying on the floor surrounded by paper with doodles on them as the rest of her team were sitting in their respective bed.

"And then you use the ribbon to speed yourself up by spinning and boom! You punch the enemy right in the face!" Ruby exclaimed. "So, what do you think?"

"It sounds absurd." Weiss critiqued.

"Of course you'd say that Weiss. That's why you're not part of this combination. What about you Yang?"

"Shooting myself sounds awesome!" Yang cheered. "… But I still don't get the name."

"It's you and Blake working together. Your hair is yellow, hers is black. Bumblebee's are yellow and black!"

"Technically my hair's blonde."

"That's just the specifics! What about you Blake?"

Blake looked outside of her window at the dusk sky before slightly turning her head to Ruby. "Yeah it's fine." Blake responded quietly before gazing out of the window again.

"Are you alright Blake? You've been distant, well more than usual." Ruby asked sincerely and Blake turned to face her team.

"I-" Blake was interrupted by a series of fast knocks on their door. "Someone should get that." Blake got up from her bed, walked to the door and opened it. "Kai?"

"Hey! Listen can I-" Kai noticed the drawings on the floor. "Am I interrupting? Because I can come back."

"It's fine Kai, really." Ruby insisted. "I was just talking about coming up with team attacks."

"Team attacks?"

"You know, special techniques that can only be accomplished by working together."

"Huh reminds me of double battle strategies." Kai mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh that's not important. Could I talk with you Ruby… In private."

Ruby gave a confused look. "Um sure."

"… Now would be nice." Kai insisted and Ruby got up.

"To be continued…" Ruby told her team before leaving the room closing the door behind her.

Blake slowly went back to her bed and stared out of the window.

"Don't think we're dropping this." Weiss stated. "Ruby's right, you are being distant."

"If you need to talk, we're here for you Blake, always." Yang reassured.

Blake sighed. "Thank you, but I don't have much to talk about. I'm just thinking."

"And that's all it is?" Weiss pressured.

"For now yes. I promise that if things are serious, I'll tell you."

"Well if you say so." Yang said concerningly as the girls lay on their beds in silence.

* * *

Kai and Ruby stood in the hallway alone.

"So what's up?" Ruby asked.

"I need some advice." Kai stated.

"Advice on what?"

"Well you're kind of a weapons nerd so…" Kai pulled out his metal arms holding them in front of Ruby. "It still a work in progress but-"

"Wow! I've never seen anything like it!" Ruby exclaimed grabbing the arms and caressing them. "How long have you been working on them?! What are they made of?! What can they do?! Tell me everything?!"

Kai staggered back surprised. "You really like them?" Ruby nodded. "Good because I'm having trouble with making the weapon… Actually a weapon. So I was wondering, could you help me-?"

"YES!" Ruby shouted grabbing Kai's arm. "Come on let's go!" Ruby ran at high speed across the hallway.

"Not this again!" Kai complained as he moved at high speed feeling his arm getting pulled out of place.

* * *

Ruby stood with her weapon on the main avenue, while Kai put his metal arms on.

"So what are they?" Ruby asked.

Kai stared down twisting his arms freely. "Well they're sort of like gauntlets, only they stop right before the hands."

"So how do you move the fingers?" Ruby flexed her fingers and Kai took one of the gauntlets off, showing Ruby the hollow interior.

"Look here, there are these elastic bands which when I put my fingers in, they pass along vibrations that make the fingers on the hand move correspondingly."

"Cool! But why did you do that?"

"Because if I just had regular gauntlets then I couldn't include this." Kai pulled the hands forward revealing the wire.

"Wow! It extends!"

Kai smirked. "This isn't a single wire you know?" Kai pointed at the wire. "If you look really close you can see that it's made of lots of compound fibres tied together because-"

"It's lighter, stronger and more durable than a single long material." Ruby finished.

"Right." Kai put his hand in the gauntlet and started making the fingers move before slotting the hand back into the arm. "And when you flex it into a fist and pull it even further…" Kai clenched a fist and aimed it in front of him only for nothing to happen. "You forget that that's the reason you needed help in the first place."

"That's okay, what's it meant to do?"

Kai lowered his arm and unclenched his fist. "Well it's supposed to shoot it out the fist like a rocket to punch someone, and since I can move the fingers I could use it like a grappling hook… Or to pick up the TV remote without leaving my seat."

"YOU'RE A GENIUS!" Ruby applauded.

Kai sighed. "No. A genius would actually get it to work."

"Well let's get started."

"Right just… Let me get into the zone first." Kai said as he got into thought. He remained still at first then began breathing rapidly and shaking.

"Kai! Are you okay?" Ruby asked concerningly shaking Kai out of his trance.

"Wha- What!" Kai grabbed Ruby's hands and took them off him. "Ruby I'm fine!"

"You didn't look alright. You were shaking and breathing weirdly."

"That… That was just me trying to use my semblance."

"You shake and breathe uncontrollably when you use your semblance?"

"No, I just have to, to get it to work. My semblance… Activates when I'm panicked, so I think about things that panic me."

"Like what?"

Kai paused. "It's not important."

"Yes it is. You shouldn't have to feel panicked to use your semblance."

"Well I'm not as lucky as other people. In a fight it's no problem, people are trying to attack me. But outside of that, I need to think."

"Then don't use your semblance outside of fights."

Kai started walking away. "It's not that simple… I'm not good at this." Kai stopped and looked towards the sky. "I'm not: strong, or smart. I don't know how to make things, or fight things, I've always had my Pokémon. But that's not enough here and without them… I'm nothing."

Kai felt a tugging on his arm, he turned his head to see Ruby holding onto it preventing him from leaving. "You're not nothing Kai."

"Name one thing I'm good at: on my own, without using my Pokémon."

"That's easy: you're kind." Kai scoffed. "And you're selfless, you take care of your Pokémon like family, and you're a great friend. And I don't like how you're hurting my friend by stressing yourself out."

Kai stopped and looked to Ruby sadly. "But that's not good enough in Remnant. Here I need all of that, and I need to be a good fighter, like you."

"What, me? I'm not that great."

"Really." Kai said unconvincingly. "You wield a deadly weapon _that you designed_ easily, you're a leader, always optimistic and never want to give up, you inspire, you push through obstacles, for goodness sake you joined two years early!"

"Well you joined and you never even trained before."

"That's just so Ozpin can keep an eye on me, I'm nothing special."

Ruby hummed to herself then looked at Kai slamming the end of her weapon on the ground making a slamming sound getting Kai's attention.

"I was total garbage when I started at Signal." Ruby started to explain. "Everybody is when they start anything new. That's why people train for years before getting accepted, but you never had that. You came here after what? Three weeks of staying in Vale. And look at you now: you have aura, a semblance, you've been making a really cool weapon, you've killed Grimm way bigger and stronger than you."

"But I had help." Kai said depressingly.

"So, that doesn't make it any less impressive how far you've come. You've been at Beacon for over two months and look how far you've come. It's incredible, in comparison I'm just a girl with a passion for weapons."

Kai and Ruby stood in the silent, peaceful atmosphere. "You really think I'm all that."

"Yeah I do."

Kai smiled. "Thank you Ruby, but…" Kai took Ruby's arm off him. "I feel just a little uncomfortable knowing how much you care. I… I'm not used to people especially… Friends."

"I know how that feels. At least with making friends."

"Well I've never been sociable, I've always kept to myself. Barring some occasions."

"Occasions like what?"

Kai paused for a moment. "… You know how when Cardin was picking on Velvet I dropped everything and punched him in the face?"

"Yeah?"

"That wasn't exactly the first time I've done that."

* * *

 **10 years ago…**

 **-Afternoon, Santalune City-**

 _The trainer school in Santalune city was a place for those who want to learn the basics of Pokémon battling, and improve their skills before heading out on a journey. The entrance was a white and yellow tiled floor that had two bookcases to the side of the walls leading into the classroom. The classroom itself had a wooden floor arranged in a pattern and six tables, three on the left and three on the right with red seats, facing a whiteboard with lots of information on it. On the table closest to the back was a boy._

 _He had brown hair neatly brushed to the right but had several bits of it sticking up out of place. His face was round and smooth, with a couple of cuts here and there. His eyes were brown with the right one being slightly swollen and bruised, and he wore a plain yellow T-Shirt and brown shorts that were covered in dirt. The boy looked down at the table not saying a word when someone sat down next to him._

 _"_ _So, the teacher told me what happened today."_

 _The person said. They were a man close to middle age with very dark brown hair, they had a round face though this face was covered in stubble, his eyes were brown with glasses over them and he gave a subtle smile. His attire was a buttoned up blue shirt and tie with professional black trousers held up by a belt._

 _"_ _Do you want to talk about it mate?" The man asked._

 _The boy looked away. "You wouldn't understand, you'll just think I'm being a nuisance."_

 _"_ _I'm your dad Kai, I know you better than most. I know you wouldn't get into a fight normally, so tell me what happened."_

 _Kai sighed and looked at his dad with tears in his eyes. "It wasn't my fault! This big kid was picking on this little one and everyone just let it happen!"_

 _"_ _And what did this big kid do?"_

 _"_ _He… He called the kid names… And made them cry."_

 _"_ _Come here." Kai's dad put his arm around his son. "Kai, standing up for others is great, but you can't just fight someone you don't agree with. You should only fight when you need to protect yourself or others from harm. Do you understand?"_

 _Kai sniffed. "Yeah… I guess…"_

 _Kai's dad patted him on the shoulder. "Cheer up champ." He got up and Kai did the same. "What do you say we get some ice cream."_

 _Kai nodded his head and the two of them walked out of the school. Kai saw the other kids playing and when they saw him they looked away and moved somewhere else._

* * *

"It didn't start then I was normally quiet. But when the quiet kid blows up and fights someone seemingly out of nowhere… People tend to stay away." Kai looked down.

"Well you don't have to be alone any more now Kai." Ruby comforted. "You have your Pokémon, and you have us!"

"Us?"

"Us! You know: me, Yang, Blake, Weiss I think, Jaune, and everyone else you've talked to at Beacon."

Kai smiled. "Yeah, I guess I do. Still weird though."

"Well if it is weird, then we'll feel weird together!"

Kai laughed. "Thanks Ruby. Although without me using my semblance, this is going to take a while."

"No problem, we'll stay up all night if we have to." Kai pulled his gauntlets off and kneeled on the ground reaching into his bag for some tools. "And Kai, your dad sounds pretty great."

"Yeah… He is." Kai said quietly pulling out a screwdriver.

* * *

The sky had gone from dusk to night as Ruby knelt in the cold night air.

"Brr. How long will this take?" Ruby shivered.

Kai rolled his eyes twisting a screwdriver. "Weren't you the one who said 'we'll stay up all night if we have to'?"

"I didn't actually think it would take that long."

"Then why did you say it?" Kai remarked as he got up removing the screwdriver. "Okay I think that's it."

"Just like you thought it worked the past three times."

"If you just didn't make me feel good about myself, my semblance might have sorted this out ages ago. Now then…" Kai put the gauntlets on and flexed the fingers. "Okay we didn't break those, good start." Kai clenched the fingers into a fist. "Well here goes nothing." Kai looked to Ruby who gave a reassuring thumb up. Kai pulled down on the bands shooting his fist, travelling through the air until the wire jerked back reaching its maximum length.

"It worked. IT WORKED!" Kai cheered.

"That was awesome!" Ruby applauded.

"All right measure it!" Kai asked and Ruby pulled out a tape measurer and started measuring how far the fist flew.

"Fifteen feet!"

"Really?" Kai stated confused looking at the wire. "I may have overdone it with the wire. Oh well. Does it move?!" Kai started pulling on the bands and Ruby witnessed the fingers at the end move.

"Yes!" Kai smiled as Ruby ran back. "This is great, we should do this again."

Kai smirked. "Well I do have some ideas I'd like to implement."

"Plus, it's nice hanging out with you."

"Same Ruby." Kai agreed as he started pulling back his arm. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?"

"I don't think I can pull it back."

Ruby sighed heavily looking at the moon. "All right let's try and finish this quickly."

Kai nodded placing his gauntlet on the ground. "Let's get started."

* * *

 **Sorry that this chapter is shorter than normal, but a lot did happen in it.**

 **Focusing on the main development, is Kai's weapon (which I haven't got a name for, leave your suggestions if you think you have a good name for it). The main inspiration for a gauntlet weapon came from 'Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness' where the main protagonist had a Snag Machine that looked like a big metal hand. The idea for the main appearance and it's grappling hook feature came from the anime 'Made in Abyss' (which you should really watch by the way) inspired by Reg's arms. And for those of you worrying that Kai will be too similar to Yang, don't worry Kai will be a lot more of a ranged fighter as we'll see soon.**

 **Anyway I'm going on holiday next week so no chapter then unfortunately, but the week after I will have the next chapter ready so until then this is Kallerston signing out!**


	22. Chapter 21: Team JNPR vs Team KNLT

**All right, I'm back from my holiday. And ready to continue posting chapters. But first I have a question to answer.**

 **Guest: If you mean Kai's Pokémon then no. But if you mean Pokémon in general then yes.**

* * *

 **-Afternoon, Beacon Academy-**

 _October 31st_

 _I apologise to anyone reading this for my lack of updates, my recent setback has discouraged me from writing down my travels. However, I write to you to inform you of a legend about the legendary Pokémon of the sea and the land whose names I now know to be Kyogre and Groundon respectively. Apparently the two were bitter rivals who created the Hoenn region during a battle of supremacy, these two possessed an ancient power that gave them immeasurable strength, though this power was unjustly taken away by a third legendary who is believed to reside in the planets sky and atmosphere; Rayquaza. Though this legend was not the only reason I have chosen to write again, for I may have actually found a way home! In the Sinnoh region, the same region that trainer from Johto was from, there are tales of legendary Pokémon that control time and more importantly space! This space manipulating legendary may be my way home, and as I write this I have already made preparations for the journey into Sinnoh, I hope to write again once I arrive._

Under the passage were drawings of Kyogre and Groundon, there was a message that read 'Sketched from murals found in Granite Cave.'

Kai was reading this passage as he sat in Beacon's library during one of his study periods specifically during forth lesson. On the opposite end of the table were Greninja and Aegislash playing a game of cards.

"You're not gonna get it. Just give up now." Greninja taunted.

"Hardly. Even if we remove any tactics and mind games, it is but a mere fifty-fifty chance that one of us will win and one of us will lose." Aegislash stated. "Even a fool could win with those odds."

Greninja held two cards in between his front feet: the ace of spades and the seven of hearts. Aegislash had only one card: the seven of diamonds. The rest of the cards lay on a messy pile on the table and it was Aegislash's turn to take a card.

"Well, I'm waaaiting." Greninja exaggerated.

Aegislash huffed and raised her hand over the card to Greninja's left, his face remained motionless. She shifted her hand to the right and his right eye widened.

 _'_ _Fool.'_ Aegislash thought as she snatched the card from Greninja's foot, before slamming the pair of sevens down on the table.

Greninja stood up and jittered annoyed before yelling and getting shushed.

"We are in a library Greninja, lower your tone." Aegislash suggested.

"You cheated! You had to!" Greninja retaliated.

"I would not cheat, that is dishonourable. I merely spotted your tell."

"Tell?! I don't have a tell!"

"Your right eye slightly widens whenever someone takes the card you want to keep. Please fix that, it removes the tension and fun in the game when your opponent is so easy to beat."

"You…!" Greninja raised his front legs in the air and shook them annoyed before letting them droop and turning away disapprovingly.

"Trouble in paradise."

Greninja and Aegislash watched as Yang and the rest of Team RWBY walked up to them.

"Hardly Lady Yang. Greninja was merely letting off some steam after suffering a crushing defeat." Aegislash explained.

"It was not crushing! It was frustrating at best!" Greninja corrected.

"A greater man would accept defeat with dignity Greninja."

Greninja grumbled and faced the team of girls. "So why are you here? You're not normally free this time of day."

"Professor Peach wasn't in… Again." Yang bluntly stated.

"Honestly, you'd think a school of this high standard would have the decency to find a substitute teacher." Weiss critiqued pulling out a binder.

"Or alternatively you could and bear with me for a moment… Enjoy the free lesson." Greninja suggested.

"Yeah Weiss, let's just enjoy ourselves it is after all our last day." Yang reminded.

Weiss and Aegislash narrowed their eye(s). "And lose out on a valuable learning experience." The two said in unison causing them to look at each other.

"I think that's the first time the two of you have actually agreed on something." Greninja spotted. "And of course, it would be about being boring." The two girls scoffed. Greninja then sharply turned to Yang. "Wait, what do you mean last day?"

"Uh, it's the last day of the first semester duh. Did you think we were going to stay here forever?" Yang sarcastically asked.

"Since when?"

"Since always Greninja. You would know if you took heed of important details." Aegislash answered.

"You knew about this?!"

"Sire has explained it to us, multiple times."

"Really?" Greninja said unconvincingly. "Give me a minute." Greninja walked over to Kai and snapped his front toes in his face. "Hmm?"

"What are you doing?" Blake asked confusingly.

"Kai appears to be in a stage three reading trance." Greninja exaggerated. "There's only one way to get him out." Greninja cleared his throat. "Hey Kai, just to let you know Talonflame got mad at the librarian for telling him to be quiet all the time so he's lit all the books around him on fire."

"Uh hum. Good." Kai replied uninterested as Greninja walked back to the girls.

"Was that supposed to do anything?" Weiss judged coldly.

Greninja raised his front foot and clenched his toes individually. "In three, two, one." Greninja snapped his toes and Kai dropped his book and got up.

"Talonflame did WHAT?!" He reacted before getting shushed. "When did you guys get here?" Kai asked Team RWBY.

"Professor Peach still isn't in." Yang repeated.

"Ah, was she ever in?"

"Honestly I don't know."

"Yeah, yeah. The teacher's not in- did you know today was the last day?" Greninja rushed.

"I told you didn't I." Kai replied leaving Greninja silent.

"… Huh. Feels like it should have ended right after the White Fang and Team Flare showed up."

Aegislash rolled her eye. "Fool."

"Shut up."

"Last day! Last day!"

A familiar sounding cheer came from the other side of the room as Nora and the rest of Team JNPR walked to the table.

"Hello!" Pyrrha greeted.

"Last day everyone! A couple of hours and tomorrow we'll be FREE!" Nora loudly cheered getting shushed.

"She's been like this all day." Ren commented.

"So where have you and your team been Sir Jaune?" Aegislash asked.

"Just packing. We want to make sure that when we leave, we're ready to go."

"Well some of us are! Ren and I are staying for the long haul." Nora corrected.

"If you're staying then why are you happy?" Kai asked.

"Because even if we're still in school, we're no longer in school. You know what I'm sayin'."

The group remained silent. "She means that we won't have lessons." Ren explained and the group ' _ohed_ '.

"Well at least you won't be alone. It turns out this school doesn't accommodate flights home to people from other worlds. Terrible." Kai joked. "What about the rest of you?"

"Well me and Yang are heading back home to Patch!" Ruby explained. "Our dad's gonna have some free time out of work and we'll finally see Zwei again!"

"Zwei?" Greninja asked.

"Our pet dog." Yang answered.

"What's a dog?" The group went silent. "I'm only kidding. We have dogs, though kind of an endangered species. It's hard to compete when Pokémon canines are literally the exact same but better."

"You do realise you insulted a proud member of our family, right?"

"I take it back. Yay regular dogs."

Weiss scoffed. "Well I'm heading back to Atlas. My sister may be returning as well, so it'll be nice to enjoy some… Civilised company for a change."

"And I'm sure everyone here will be glad to be rid of your foolish company for a brief time." Aegislash coldly stated, as the two locked cold stares.

"And what about you Blake?" Kai asked innocently.

Blake turned slightly away. "I'm staying at Beacon too. My relationship with my parents… It's complicated."

"Well that's understandable given that you were in a cult." Greninja remarked getting a foul look. "Too soon?"

"Well no matter where we are at least we can take a break for a bit." Kai summarised. "Now then, since I've been interrupted from my book." Kai looked at Greninja and Aegislash. "Deal me in."

The period came and went rather quickly. Everybody did their own thing: reading, studying, playing cards, making a paper boat/hat (cough, cough, Nora, cough) or chatting it didn't last long. It was only a matter of time before the bell went.

"Ugh it's already over!" Nora complained.

"Calm down Nora. We only have one lesson left, then we'll be officially off." Ren reminded.

"Speaking of, what is it?" Kai asked.

"Please not Oobleck, please not Oobleck." Yang chanted with crossed fingers. "I can handle Port by sleeping, but I can't do anything to avoid Oobleck."

"For your information we don't have Professor Port or Doctor Oobleck. We have Miss Goodwitch." Weiss stated disapprovingly.

"Yes! A fun lesson to end the semester!" Yang cheered.

"You guys go ahead, I just need to get something." Kai said as he returned Greninja and Aegislash, getting up out of his seat.

"All right. We'll see you there." Pyrrha stated as Kai waved.

 _'_ _Just wait till' people get a load of this.'_ Kai thought.

* * *

The Amphitheatre was packed with non-stop chatter. It was last day of school fever, and it was the last lesson. Needless to say, the students were restless.

"Now, now settle down." Goodwitch interrupted, the students ignoring her. "That's enough!" She shouted with authority, getting the students to be quiet. "I understand that today is the last day and that this is the last lesson. But if we could please act as rational individuals without delving into chaos, that would be much appreciated."

"Yes Miss Goodwitch!" The students answered simultaneously.

"Now then, since this is the last day we will have only one match today. However, that match will involve the entire team participating." Goodwitch started to explain. "Now then any volunteers?"

A number of teams raised their hands and Goodwitch scoured the room. Among those teams were RWBY and JNPR.

"Ooh, I hope it's us. It'll be awesome if we get to kick some butt as a team." Yang hoped.

"Yeah, a win will be the perfect way to end of our first semester." Ruby squealed.

"Who knows maybe we'll be up against you guys." Jaune said nervously.

"Team JNPR please come down to the floor." Miss Goodwitch declared.

"Woah Jaune's a psychic!" Nora commented.

"It's more likely that he had a lucky guess." Ren stated.

"But that's less fun."

"Well we better move, hopefully we'll do well." Pyrrha commented.

"You'll do great. Unless you're against us. Then you'll lose." Yang explained.

"Them's fighting words!" Nora declared as she and her team headed down.

"And for their opponent… How about you Mr Emblem?" Goodwitch said as Kai stood up as if on cue.

"Sure thing. One more for the road am I right?" Kai rhetorically asked as he headed down.

"Kai's their opponent! He doesn't even have a team!" Weiss complained.

"He does have his Pokémon though." Blake reminded. "Though I have to wonder if he can command four at once while also protecting himself?"

"I think that this fight is gonna be way better than anything we could have done to finish the semester off." Yang commented.

"This fight's gonna be amazing!" Ruby cheered.

Kai and Team JNPR had reached the floor and got ready to fight.

"Hey good luck guys." Kai stated kindly.

"It's four against one. Shouldn't we be telling you that?" Jaune asked.

"Well, I'm hardly alone."

The light's dimmed as Kai hovered his hands over his Poké balls.

 _'_ _Though I do have a surprise in store.'_

* * *

 _Kai ran along the corridor to meet up with Miss Goodwitch._

 _"_ _Miss Goodwitch! Miss Goodwitch wait!" She stopped and Kai panted in place._

 _"_ _Mr Emblem, shouldn't you be heading to my class now?" She asked._

 _"_ _Yes, but… Look I need you to pick me for a sparring match when I volunteer."_

 _"_ _And why Mr Emblem should I pick you over every other student?"_

 _"_ _Because I've taken your advice."_

 _Miss Goodwitch raised a brow as Kai put his hands in his pockets._

* * *

Kai's image and aura appeared on one side of the room and Team JNPR's were together on another.

"The match will be over when all of one teams' members have their aura reach low levels. Are both teams ready?" Miss Goodwitch asked.

"Yep!" Team JNPR simultaneously agreed.

"Ready to roll." Kai replied.

"Begin!" Goodwitch declared.

Before Kai could reach for them Pyrrha made her hands glow black, using her polarity to force Kai's Poké balls into the air and into Team JNPR's possession. Kai gulped and his eyes went blue.

"ATTACK!" Jaune declared as Team JNPR charged forward. Nora threw her weapon into the air where it unfolded into a large hammer, before catching it. She jumped at Kai and pulled the hammer back.

"Nora smash!" She gleefully cried as she swung her hammer at him. Kai bent his back behind him so that the hammer swing went over him like a limbo pole. Nora kept the momentum swinging at Kai's legs. Kai went back to his regular posture and jumped early before landing on the hammer trapping it under his feet.

Kai leant forwards and put his hands in his jacket pockets. "Sooo… Now what?"

Nora growled and pulled the hammer up with all her might, Kai saw it coming and jumped back causing Nora to hit herself in the face with the handle making her to stumble back.

"What is going on here?!" Nora cried out.

"Let's just say I've had an ' _eye-opening_ ' experience." Kai punned.

"… Huh?"

"… My eyes! They're glowing! My semblance lets me know what you're gonna do!"

"Then why didn't you say so?"

"Because I'm trying to be fun-" Kai's enhanced hearing let him hear an oncoming set of footsteps, then a sudden silence. He turned his head, immediately getting kicked in the face by Ren knocking him away onto the floor. "Okay so: predicting moves; good. Reaction time; still needs improvement."

Kai looked at Ren again to see him aiming his guns at him. With his hands still in his pockets Kai got on his feet and started jumping erratically dodging the bullets.

"Can you- gah! Give me a- woah! Sec! I'm trying to- ah!" Kai shouted as he dodged the shots.

"He's planning something." Jaune assumed. "Ren! Keep applying pressuring fire! Nora! Keep an eye on those Poké balls! Pyrrha! Watch my back! I'm going in!"

Jaune charged at Kai giving a battle cry. Kai immediately noticed and started running to the right avoiding Ren's gun fire but was about to get cut off by Jaune.

 _'_ _Come on! Come on!'_ Kai thought desperately. _'Just go on you: useless, annoying, piece of-'_ Kai felt a click. _'Ah there we go.'_

Kai positioned himself so that Jaune would block Ren's gunfire forcing him to stop. Jaune raised his sword yelling, swinging it down where it was met with a clang.

"What the-?" Jaune started to say.

Kai smirked. "Surprise."

Jaune's sword was trapped, grabbed in-between Kai's gauntlet.

"How? When-?"

"Ruby helped. It was actually an offer she was doing."

"An offer?"

"A two for one special."

Before Jaune could understand what Kai meant, Kai punched Jaune in the face with his other gauntlet clad fist knocking him back. Kai sharply turned his head to Ren who raised his guns at him again, and he smiled smugly. Ren began firing a spread and Kai kept re-positioning his gauntlets to block every shot without damaging his aura making Ren lower his weapons and frown as Jaune got up.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune cried.

"Done!" Pyrrha replied jumping in.

Pyrrha swung her spear at Kai forcing him to dodge to the left making him get hit by Pyrrha's shield. Kai went for a right hook but Pyrrha used her semblance to push the gauntlet too far to the right knocking him off balance allowing her to smack Kai with her spear knocking him away.

"Okay: analysis is good, reaction time needs improvement, dealing with skilled fighters, gosh darn terrible!" Kai moaned and he focused his attention on his Poké balls lying on the floor next to Nora. He tried sprinting towards them but was cut off by Pyrrha who pushed his arm to the side and got Kai in a headlock.

"Good job Pyrrha!" Jaune congratulated. Kai got desperate and raised his right fist at Jaune.

" **Rocket Fist!** " Kai cried out.

"What?" Jaune replied shocked as Kai pulled on the bands in the gauntlet shooting his fist at Jaune causing him to dodge. "Woo! Good thing that missed."

"Oh, I didn't miss." Kai corrected as his fist kept traveling before making the wire stop as it reached a Poké ball. Kai grabbed the ball and yanked his arm back retracting the fist. Getting shocked faces from Team JNPR. "Oh yeah. That just happened, thanks Ruby!" Kai opened the Poké ball and out came Noivern stomping onto the ground making Pyrrha let go of Kai and stagger back in shock.

Noivern stared at JNPR's shocked expressions and his sensitive hearing let him hear the shocked gasp of the entire class. "Um… Hi."

"What the-?"

" **Noivern use Boomburst!** " Kai ordered.

"Huh? - Oh right! Here comes the boom!" Noivern cried as his ears began to glow. Kai realised he'd be in the attack range and quickly landed flat on his back to dodge right as Noivern unleashed his attack. The sound waves barely nudged Pyrrha, Jaune or Nora, but Ren got sent flying back before landing on his feet. "Um… Did me saying that, make my attack weaker?"

"It's not that! It's their armour, remember Steel type properties."

"You know I can't deal with Steel types!"

"I'm aware. Just cover me, and I'll get some backup."

"Is that a dragon?!" Jaune shouted.

"You're a knight, aren't you? You kill dragons, why are you scared?" Noivern stated.

"I… Uh…"

"Jaune focus!" Pyrrha called out. "It's just another one of Kai's Pokémon. We can handle it."

"All right I've had enough of this." Kai interrupted. " **Noivern use Supersonic!** "

Noivern generated high-pitched sound waves from his ears that spread across the arena, though JNPR was able to dodge. Kai used the ensuing panic to his advantage and started running towards the Poké balls on the floor. His enhanced senses let him hear footsteps, making him react quickly as Ren went to kick him in the face again. Kai leant back then grabbed Ren's leg with his hand throwing him onto the ground. Kai felt a fast approaching projectile in the air, jumping back as a pink explosion detonated where Kai just stood. He quickly saw Nora with her hammer now a grenade launcher, shooting a barrage of pink explosives. Kai sighed then ran at fast speeds, quick-stepping to avoid the explosives before lunging at the Poké balls. As he was about to grab them they were surrounded in black aura and were thrown into the air heading into the stands where they would be unobtainable. Kai reacted fast launching both his fists at his Poké balls only for the same black aura to push his arms off course.

"I've got it!" Noivern cried flying as a blur with his wings outward to snag the Poké balls before landing on the floor.

"Phew." Kai started to retract his arms but immediately sensed an incoming presence and his body jerked to avoid Pyrrha's spear. Kai kept dodging and went to punch but only his left arm had retracted. "Oh, you've got to be-!" Kai paused getting an idea. "That could work." He said to himself before thrusting his right arm to the side causing his disconnected hand to get pulled by the wire and slap Pyrrha across the face like a flail. Kai kept jerking his arm swinging his flailing gauntlet, Pyrrha blocked the blows with her shield before spinning her spear turning it into a shot gun firing fiery rounds that Kai blocked with his left gauntlet. Pyrrha threw her shield at Kai forcing him to backhand it back at her, she jumped into the air and landed on her shield before jumping off that at Kai. "How in the-?"

" **Dragon Pulse!** " A purple laser of draconic energy zoomed past Kai hitting a defenceless Pyrrha in her breastplate, not doing much damage but stopping her attack making her retreat as Noivern got in close to Kai.

"Noivern! Excellent timing!" Kai congratulated.

"But I didn't do much damage." Noivern wallowed.

"Don't worry about that it's fine. Now hand me my Poké balls."

Noivern lowered his head and opened his wings to see two Poké balls in his grasping claws. "I'm sorry Kai. I couldn't get them all."

"What are you talking about? There's enough now for even numbers and if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have any, now would we?"

Noivern managed to lift his head a little and smile as Kai grabbed the Poké balls out of his claws and into his hands. He turned sharply to see JNPR grouped up ready to strike, then at the aura screens. Nora and Pyrrha were mostly green with not much aura missing, Jaune's was also green but had quite a bit missing and was darker, Ren had the lowest on his team almost an amber colour and Kai had the lowest overall roughly having lost just less than half his aura, giving him a bright amber colour.

Kai exhaled, then inhaled as he opened his Poké balls, sending out Talonflame and Lucario.

"Yes! I've been waiting for an excuse to fight some students!" Talonflame cried out making Jaune step back and gulp.

"Be wary Talonflame. Team JNPR have been known to be powerful allies." Lucario warned. "Miss Nikos in particular is famous for her skill in combat."

"All the better."

"Yeah we can do this! We can do this right?" Noivern asked.

"Of course, we can Noivern." Kai reassured. "Here's the game plan: save Pyrrha for last, like Lucario said she's the most powerful, if we focus on the others we might be able to overwhelm her with numbers later. As for your opponents: Noivern go for Ren, Lucario; Nora, Talonflame…" Kai looked at him seriously. "Jaune's all yours."

Talonflame grunted in approval. "I've been waiting for this."

"And the most important thing, if my aura reaches red we all lose. Keep that in mind and- **let's go people!** "

" **Right!** " Kai's Pokémon agreed, Lucario ran to his target with Talonflame hovering close beside him as Noivern flew above their heads.

"All right guys don't panic." Jaune nervously said.

"We're not the one's panicking you are." Nora pointed out.

"Oh- well… Look we know who they're gonna attack so all we have to do is-"

" **Rotate left!** " Kai ordered.

"Huh?"

Talonflame swapped places with Noivern, Noivern swapped places with Lucario and Lucario swapped places with Talonflame, switching their opponents.

"All right guys! **Noivern use Hurricane! Talonflame use Acrobatics! Lucario use Aura Sphere!** "

Kai's Pokémon nodded and started their attack. Noivern's wings glowed blue and flapped them rapidly generating a powerful wind current, causing JNPR to brace themselves but forced Nora back before a hurricane formed around her sending her spinning into the air.

"Nora!" Ren cried out.

"Worry about yourself!" Talonflame yelled before striking Ren beak first in the chest. Before Ren fully recovered Talonflame kept up the pressure, attacking him from the sides to push him away from his team.

"Jaune look out!" Pyrrha warned as Lucario made their way up to them.

"Raise our shields!" Jaune ordered.

"Wait! There's something off about him. Let me try something."

Pyrrha raised her hand as Lucario put his paws together creating a blue sphere of aura.

"Pyrrha! Any time now!" Jaune nervously shouted.

"In a second!"

Lucario thrusted his paws forward, just as Pyrrha used her semblance swatting her hand to the side, as a black aura appeared over Lucario's paws making him throw the Aura Sphere to the right.

"You did it!" Jaune cheered.

"Impressive Miss Nikos. Even without knowing anything about me, you abused my Steel typing to use your semblance." Lucario complemented.

"Well it wasn't really anything too-" Pyrrha started to say.

"However…" Lucario continued ominously. "Aura Sphere never misses."

Jaune and Pyrrha were left confused as a blue light shadowed Jaune. He turned to see the Aura Sphere had redirected itself at him. Before he could react, the attack made contact, exploding and sending Jaune far back.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha screamed.

Lucario calmly hummed. "Ironic really." Pyrrha faced him. "Your armour is meant to protect you, however with my Fighting type attacks, it actually makes you weaker. I suppose you know how that feels."

"What do you mean?"

"Your semblance. Polarity. You can use someone's: weapon, armour, perhaps even medicinal items like dental braces and turn it against them. I would assume that's how you won so many fights, though against me who can control and manipulate aura." Lucario raised his paw, blue aura trailing of it. "You won't have such a luxury… If I were facing you that is."

Pyrrha kept her guard up, slowly walking around Lucario. "I am more than my semblance. If you're psyching me out-"

"Miss Nikos. I am well aware that you heard our Master's strategy just now. Notice his phrasing: 'save Pyrrha for last', 'if my aura reaches red we all lose'. Well you are the last one here, and how else would Master lose his aura." Pyrrha realised what Lucario meant and he smirked. "So, you understand, good. Watch your left."

Pyrrha looked sharply to the left to see nothing when a metal fist punched her right check knocking her away.

"Thanks for the opening Lucario." Kai thanked as he walked closer to Pyrrha.

"My pleasure Master. Proceed with caution."

"Yeah I know. **Original positions!** " Lucario nodded at Kai heading to the middle of the arena; Noivern and Talonflame reached the same point, Kai's Pokémon nodded at each other before heading to their original targets. "All right Pyrrha. Let's do this!" Kai said confidently as his eyes glowed bright.

* * *

Ren got up and onto his two feet when he noticed the floor around him got darker. He stared up to see Noivern flying above him.

" **Hurricane!** " Noivern yelled as he flapped his wings. Ren dodge rolled away from the powerful blast of wind and started sprinting delivering fire from his guns at Noivern wings. Noivern chuckled. "That sort of tickles." Ren stopped firing as Noivern blew another blast of wind at him, Ren dodged again then jumped into the air where he spun in place before slicing diagonally downwards as he fell, bringing Noivern closer to the ground. "Can't you just get hit already. Dodging my attacks is really annoying you know."

"That would not be the best strategy for a fight." Ren commented.

"Well dodging isn't a good strategy for a fun fight." Noivern moaned. "Fine, we'll do it your way! **Dragon Pulse!** " Noivern generated a purple light in his mouth, shooting a laser at Ren that collided with him pushing him further back. "Still not down." Noivern sighed unenthusiastically.

Ren frowned and pulled his blades back before throwing them simultaneously at Noivern, Noivern saw them coming flying upwards to dodge. "Missed me!" He taunted as the blades started coming back like boomerangs cutting across Noiverns back, making him to fall to the floor as Ren caught them. Noivern started to get up onto his feet as Ren ran towards him.

" **Supersonic!** " The high-pitched sound waves made Ren stop in his tracks and cover his ears.

"Gah!" He moaned. When the sound stopped, Ren's ears were ringing and his vision was blurry. He steadied his resolve furiously slashing at Noivern five consecutive times, as he shielded himself with his wings. Ren finished off by jumping at Noivern and drop kicking his face, knocking him on his back and giving him some distance.

Ren panted in place seeing his downed opponent before bowing. "You were a worthy opponent. Thank you for the fight." Ren was about to go to the rest of his team when a high-pitch squeaking cry made him turn back around to see Noivern flying just over the ground.

"I ain't done! Kai trusts me to beat you! And I won't let him down!" Noivern retaliated. " **Hurricane!** " Noivern flapped his glowing wings with tremendous force, Ren rolled to the right but Noivern thrusted both of his wings that way making the wind current wrap around him trapping him. "I might not be able to do as much as my brothers and sisters! But this is what I can do!" Noivern delivered one last flap of tremendous power and a horizontal tornado spun at Ren, unable to avoid it Ren took the hit and was sent flying away screaming hitting a wall at the other end of the room. A buzzer went off and Noivern stared at Ren's aura to see it was in the very low single digits. "Okay, that might have been a bit too much of my strength." Noivern sheepishly muttered looking down at the ground feeling guilty.

* * *

Jaune stood nervously raising his shield as Talonflame flew menacingly above him.

"Hmph. It's been a while." Talonflame commented. "Only this time, I'm allowed to not hold back."

"I thought we were over this." Jaune said nervously.

"It may have been wrong to go after you, but I wasn't wrong about you being weak! Let's just see how far you've come! **Steel Wing!** " Talonflame flew at Jaune with metallic wings, Jaune reacted by raising his shield above him right when Talonflame planted his talons on the floor causing him to slide across the ground striking his wings against Jaune's legs making him flip in the air and land on his back.

"Ow!" Jaune moaned.

Talonflame scoffed. "Lesson one: subvert the enemies expectations and take them by surprise. They think you go high, go low."

Jaune slowly got up. "Are you… Trying to teach me something?"

"We are in a class, aren't we?" Talonflame started running at Jaune, his Talons still on the ground. "Lesson two: don't be afraid to improvise! **Flame Charge!** " Talonflame raised his wings aerodynamically and lit himself on fire getting an immediate burst in speed. Jaune narrowed his eyes and ran at Talonflame before jumping to the right slashing Talonflame's side, Talonflame took the hit but rotated his position then jumped colliding with Jaune in the chest knocking him into the air before he fell on his side clutching his stomach. "Not bad, but you forgot lesson one!" Talonflame berated as he flew above Jaune glowing with an orange aura.

"What are you trying to-"

"Lesson three: never back out! Once you start a fight, you finish it! OR GO DOWN TRYING!" Talonflame began flying straight at Jaune using Flame Charge and Jaune raised his shield to block.

"Wait!" Jaune realised. Talonflame went around going for Jaune's right, and Jaune thrusted his shield to parry blocking Talonflame's attack and dazing him. "Lesson one!" Jaune abused Talonflame's state and slashed Talonflame away.

" **Acrobatics!** " Talonflame yelled as he flew at Jaune.

"Lesson two!" Jaune shouted back as he folded away his shield and held his sword with both hands. Talonflame flew around him, throwing Jaune off with his afterimages striking him in the left. Jaune regained posture and took another hit from the right, this time barely nudging him. Jaune concentrated and when Talonflame charged from the front, Jaune slammed his sword down on his head knocking him flat on the floor. Before Talonflame could get up, Jaune let go of his sword and body slammed Talonflame wrapping his arms around him as he did.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Talonflame struggled but couldn't get free. "LET ME GO!"

"Lesson three remember." Jaune reminded Talonflame and he smiled through his beak.

"You're pretty good Jaune. A fast learner, maybe even better than me when I started… But did you really think it would be that simple." Embers started emitting from Talonflame's body and he started glowing red and orange. "Remember the roof, now you get to see what happens next."

Jaune looked down at Talonflame confused when he felt himself heating up rapidly, before he combusted into flames. " **AAAH!** " Jaune screamed letting go of Talonflame rolling onto the ground, the flames died down but Jaune still felt a burning sensation and small flames were scattered across his body. "What did you do to me?!"

"Oh that." Talonflame replied maliciously. "That's my ability."

"Ability?"

"Yeah, you weren't there when Kai talked about it, bet you regret not standing up to that jerk earlier don't you."

Jaune picked up his sword and charged at Talonflame giving a battle cry as Talonflame readied Steel Wing. Talonflame struck first with his left wing knocking Jaune off balance, then Jaune slashed down which Talonflame easily swatted away with his right wing. Making Jaune fall on his butt.

"My ability is Flame Body." Talonflame began to explain. "Whenever someone makes contact with my body, say body slamming and wrapping their arms around me. Then it sometimes causes you to get a burn status condition, halving your attacking strength.

"How does that-?" Jaune started to say before the flames combusted again making him scream.

"And you'll periodically take damage."

The flames died down again and Jaune got up on his feet panting. "I won't back out! I'll take you down and finish this!" Jaune declared.

Talonflame flew back in the air. "Then you'll fall trying. **Flame Charge!** " Talonflame flew at Jaune at blazing speeds, Jaune opened his shield again but wasn't fast enough to block. Talonflame collided with Jaune's chest plate dealing super-effective damage knocking him on his back.

A buzzer went off and Talonflame stared at Jaune's aura, now in the red. Jaune groaned as Talonflame flew down to Jaune placing his talons on his chest.

"What are you doing?" Jaune asked weakly.

"Lesson four." Talonflame murmured.

Jaune's eyes widened. "No! My aura's-!"

"Losing doesn't make you weak!"

"… Huh?"

"Everyone loses. Even me, in fact… The greatest thing that happened to me was losing a single fight." Talonflame reminisced on getting caught. "Take the losses when they come, learn from them, get stronger from them. Greet every loss as you would a victory and keep moving forward with nothing keeping you back. That is true strength." Talonflame took his talons of Jaune. "Don't get into fights and get a good sleep, the burn will be gone when you wake up." Talonflame looked away and flapped his wings flying away.

Jaune let his head fall onto the floor. "Thanks."

* * *

Nora walked away backwards with a panicked expression. "Stay back!" She shot three explosives creating a large pink dust cloud. There was a brief pause before Lucario stepped out covered in a few scratches.

"As I have told you Miss Valkyrie, explosives like yours while powerful are Normal type to me. I have a natural resistance and my defences are average enough so that you can't do much damage." Lucario explained.

Nora went to fire another round when Lucario quickly used Aura Sphere, the flames dispersing when they hit her knocking her way. Lucario casually began walking back up to her. Nora got up and turned her grenade launcher back into a hammer swinging it at Lucario, Lucario didn't react and raised a paw holding the hammer in his paw to block it.

"Why won't you go down already?!" Nora shouted frustrated.

"Because your attacks are Normal and occasionally Steel type. Types that as I have mentioned, I am resistant to." Lucario pulled back his free paw and used Power-Up Punch right in Nora's gut making her gag as she lowered her grip on her hammer making both that and herself fall to the floor.

"Mercy." Nora suggested.

"No." Lucario fired an Aura Sphere from his palm creating an explosion as it hit making dust rise. A buzzer went off, though Lucario could sense Nora's low aura level without looking at her portrait.

"Worth a shot…" Nora managed to say before panting.

Lucario turned around and closed his eyes raising a paw and his aura sensing appendages. In his aura vision he could sense Noivern and Talonflame about to finish their fights and Kai holding his own reasonably well. He could also sense the rest of the class looking down at the fight judging Lucario and his brothers. Encouragement, surprise, excitement… And fear. These were the emotions Lucario could sense, he opened his eyes and stopped sensing aura instead deciding to head closer to Kai and Pyrrha's fight.

Kai was dodging left, right, and any other direction available. Pyrrha was applying large amounts of pressure, she stood firmly slashing with the head of her spear allowing her to keep herself out of Kai's range while staying on the offensive. Kai jumped back avoiding a horizontal swing, Pyrrha immediately reacted taking a step forward while thrusting the tip of her spear at Kai forcing him to dodge instead of counter-attack. Kai took several more steps back each time ducking or shifting to avoid a swing. Kai eventually caught the spear head in his gauntlets only for Pyrrha to use her polarity to pull the spear and gauntlets towards her. Kai's perception let him see this coming and he applied minimum pressure on the rubber bands letting Pyrrha pull the fists attached to wires instead of shooting them, allowing Kai to stay in place and not get pulled back. Two buzzers went off at almost the same time making Pyrrha flinch cancelling her polarity letting Kai pull back his fists.

"Phew, this is tense." Kai commented wiping sweat of his forehead.

Pyrrha was distracted looking at the aura portraits revealing her as the last member of her team standing. "They all lost." Pyrrha murmured in disbelief.

"It's hardly a surprise." Lucario stated catching her and Kai's attention. "Our targets weren't random: Noivern's flying type and high special attack made him ideal for taking out Mr Ren who had little in the way of defences. Talonflame's fire type and personal history with Mr Arc made him the best choice. And as for Miss Valkyrie… Well I've already explained the situation to her numerous times before. That leaves you."

Noivern and Talonflame flew to Lucario's side.

"That guy was tough, how are you two?" Noivern asked.

"Pfft. You're really asking how I did against Jaune of all people? It was easy."

"And yet you seem to have taken a substantial amount of damage. Perhaps your personal history with Mr Arc was also a weakness." Lucario assumed.

"Watch it Lucario!"

"Please don't fight you guys." Noivern begged.

"Yeah, we'll save it for her!" Talonflame gestured his wing at Pyrrha who raised her shield defensively ready to take them on.

"That would be the wisest decision. However, I believe Master has other plans." Lucario stated.

"What do you mean bro?" Noivern asked.

Lucario thrusted his paw to Kai's direction. "I assume you want to take on Miss Nikos alone Master."

Kai smiled. "You can read me like a book, can't you?"

Lucario lowered his paw. "Very well, please continue. We won't hamper your progress."

"WHAT?!" Talonflame shouted.

"Do you wish to go against Master's wishes?"

"I…" Talonflame remained silent then looked to Kai. "DON'T LOSE THIS KAI!"

"Yeah you've got this!" Noivern encouraged.

Lucario crossed his arms and stood to the side, though his face was turned so he could see the fight.

"Thanks guys." Kai turned back to Pyrrha then down at his gauntlets. "Well these haven't been tested yet but why not?" Kai turned the round domes on top of the gauntlets with a click and they started glowing orange, the camera shutter on the palm of the hands also opened. "This is it Pyrrha! The grand finale!"

Pyrrha smiled raising her spear just above her shoulder holding it straight. "Ready when you are."

As soon as Pyrrha said those words Kai started running towards her raising his right fist. Kai threw a punch and Pyrrha pushed it to the side with her shield, before she could react Kai had already placed his left palm on her chest.

" **Makeshift…** " The dome on Kai's gauntlet began to glow. " **Force Palm!** " A small explosion came from the palm at point blank range blasting Pyrrha away. She landed on her side with smoke coming from the gauntlet. Kai appreciated his handiwork but sharply looked down at his gauntlet, his perception let him notice that a build-up of energy was surrounding the gauntlet.

 _'_ _It's overheating.'_ Kai thought. _'I need to finish this fast!'_

Kai raised his right gauntlet aiming his palm at Pyrrha as she got up. " **Burning Laser!** " Kai shot an orange laser out of the palm and Pyrrha raised her shield to block the hit. Kai noticed his gauntlet was building up heat and Kai started running at Pyrrha keeping the beam on her. Pyrrha got her footing and used her polarity to push Kai's gauntlet and the laser away letting her throw her hot shield at Kai slamming him in the face before returning to her. She grabbed it and ran with it in front of her as both of Kai's shutters generated an orange light as he shot lasers from them at point blank range against the shield causing a bright orange light to form. Time seemed to slow down as the offence and defensive moves collided (i.e. that iconic image between Captain America and Iron Man in Civil War), the domes on top of the gauntlets began to crack, the heat and the force from the attack making them explode launching Kai back landing flat on his back. Kai slowly leant up as a buzzer went off and the lights went back on.

"What?" Kai murmured in disbelief. He looked at his aura portrait and saw that his aura was in the red. The recoil from the last attack just pushed him over. "I lost…"

"And that's the match!" Goodwitch announced.

Kai looked at his gantlets, the glass domes were completely smashed to pieces and the area around the shutter was charred black. Kai lowered his hat over his eyes as tears began to form when something touched his shoulder making him jerk his head up.

"That was an excellent match Kai, it was the longest time in… I don't know how long someone was able to keep up with me." Pyrrha complemented.

Before Kai had time to take it in his Pokémon grouped around him.

"Wow Kai. That was incredible!" Noivern applauded.

"But… I lost." Kai quietly responded.

"So, what?" Talonflame argued. "You win some you lose some. At least you went out giving it everything you got!"

"You may have lost the battle this time Master but think about how far you've come." Lucario commented. "Imagine if yourself from when you joined could see you now, the improvement in your capabilities is nothing short of extraordinary. It makes us proud to know that you're our trainer."

Kai got up and smiled wiping away the tears. "You guys."

The rest of Team JNPR quickly met up with them.

"That! Was! Awesome!" Nora shouted. "Pyrrha was there like swish, swish, swoosh. And Kai you were all there like buzzzzz, boom!"

"It was a spectacle." Ren admitted.

"I knew you could do it Pyrrha. Never doubted you for a moment." Jaune confessed.

Pyrrha smiled then gasped. "Jaune! You're on fire!"

"Hm?" Jaune looked at the remnants of his burn status. "Oh that, that'll just clear up with a good night's sleep."

Kai and Lucario gave Talonflame a suspicious look. "What? He grabbed me! That's how my ability works!" Talonflame argued.

"Students could you please leave the floor, unless you don't want to leave early." Goodwitch stated. The students didn't respond, they just ran back to the stands as soon as possible, though Kai returned his Pokémon first. When they were in the stands Miss Goodwitch stood on the raised circular platform. "Well students it has been my pleasure to teach you these past twelve weeks. And while we all need time to rest, that is no excuse to be lazy. When lessons resume we will carry on exactly where we left off, with no time spent getting you warmed up back into the routine. We train you to be the defenders of tomorrow, so when you return I expect you all to act like it." The bell went off to signal the end of the half lesson and the students efficiently and professionally ran out of the room like there was no tomorrow. In less than a minute Miss Goodwitch was the only soul left, until a set of footsteps signalled the arrival of someone else.

"I see your students were more than ready to head off into the world." Ozpin joked.

Goodwitch crossed her arms. "I still don't know why you give them half of the last lesson of every year."

Ozpin smiled. "Glynda, life will not give people many gifts. I think it's good if we are responsible for some of them."

"And what if the students just expect life to give them gifts."

"Then clearly, we have not been doing our job well enough." Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "However, I don't think we'll have a problem with that this year."

"And why do you say that?"

Ozpin smirked. "Because we are fortunate enough to have some good examples this year."

Ozpin took out his scroll and looked at the cameras in the schools hallways to see Kai with teams RWBY and JNPR, smiling as he did.

* * *

 **And there we go, the first semester in RWBY is over. The rest of this arc will mainly focus on Kai as well as a few specific characters, which ones? You'll find out in the next one.**

 **So until then this is Kallerston signing out!**


	23. Chapter 22: The leftovers

**-Afternoon, Beacon Academy-**

The Main Avenue was packed with students and airships. It was officially the end of semester which meant two weeks of rest and relaxation. Teams RWBY, JNPR and Sun were making their goodbyes.

"Well it's been fun guys." Sun said to the group.

"Oh, we'll miss you all so much!" Ruby cried.

"At least show some dignity in leaving." Weiss responded uninterested.

"I'll miss you too! Best buddy!"

"You sure you'll manage without us around?" Yang asked Blake.

"Actually, I think I'll enjoy the peace and quiet." Blake answered.

"Honestly I find that hard to believe after you charged straight into the middle of a robbery." Sun commented getting an unamused look from Blake. "I'm just saying."

"Well here goes… Honestly it feels weird heading home." Jaune admitted.

"Because of how much you've improved since you started." Pyrrha guessed.

"That… And I'm going to have to deal with all my sisters again." Jaune shuddered

"Ugh! What's taking the ships so long, I'm tired of waiting!" Nora moaned.

"Nora, we're saying goodbye to our friends. We should appreciate the time we have left." Ren stated.

"But my feet hurt."

Jaune looked around for something. "Hey, where's Kai?"

"I haven't seen him." Pyrrha answered.

"Well he said he was staying at Beacon. We'll be sure to pass your farewells to him." Ren consolidated.

"I don't get to see why he doesn't have to stand here all morning. What's he doing that allows him to not say goodbye?" Nora complained.

* * *

 _ **September 5th**_

 _ **I have successfully arrived in the Sinnoh region, specifically in Canalave City. I am currently staying in the Harbor Inn, which for some reason surprised the locals who gave me weird looks, telling me that it had been closed for years. Regardless I am writing this with a startling development, apparently this city is home to a library that contains books about the myths of Sinnoh, hopefully this will reveal the location of the legendary Pokémon. I shall have to begin my research tomorrow though as it has been a long day of travelling and tonight I hope to experience a good night's sleep to refresh my body and mind for tomorrow.**_

Kai was in his dorm lying on top of his bed, his head propped against his pillow and his book in his hands.

"Have you found any more answers Master?"

Kai looked up from his book to see Lucario standing on one foot in a meditating like pose close to one of the walls with a closet.

"Well right now this ' _Dr Who_ ' is in Sinnoh, so honestly I'm not quite sure. Maybe when he gets to Kalos, we'll get some definitive answers." Kai explained.

"Doctor… Who."

"Well I needed to call this guy something. All I know is that they're a doctor, they might not even be a guy."

Lucario sighed. "I suppose that is a reasonable explanation for the name."

"Hey why don't we just skip to the end?"

Kai and Lucario looked to the window to see Greninja with his chin on his front legs leaning just outside.

"Because we might miss something along the way. Besides it's a good read." Kai answered.

Greninja shrugged. "I guess."

Lucario put his raised leg down and walked over to Greninja. "Is something on your mind?"

"Naw, I'm fine."

"Did you forget that aura links to your emotions? Or did you forget that your aura makes it easy to know when you're lying."

"… I hate you."

"You're starting to sound like Talonflame."

Greninja sharply turned to Lucario pointing his front foot at his chest. "Take that back!" Lucario smirked and Greninja sighed settling down. "Just knowing that everyone's heading home for a couple of weeks… I'm just homesick that's all."

Kai perked up and closed his book. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"I didn't want to bring anyone down. Isn't it my job to keep everyone's spirits up?"

"I think we'd much prefer it if you didn't." Lucario bluntly stated.

"Since when did you get a sassy nature?"

"I'm not being sassy, only honest."

"Dude. I legitimately can't tell if your being serious or not." Lucario raised a brow. "… Yeah never mind, I realise how dumb that sounds when I say it out loud. When aren't you bluntly honest?"

"Greninja, there is nothing wrong with talking about Kalos. It might be healthy for us to reminisce, now that Kai has revealed the truth to people, maybe we could share some of our stories with them."

"Except that most of them have left."

"… Most but not all." Kai interrupted coming up with an idea.

* * *

 **The next day…**

Blake was in her bed blissful and relaxed, she slowly began opening her eyes and waking up.

"I'm up before Ruby. That's a-" Blake murmured to herself when she looked around the dorm to see it empty and quiet. "Oh… Right."

Blake leant upwards and darted her eyes left and right, just making sure no one was watching. Without leaving the bed she grabbed a nearby book and quickly pulled it to her, blushing as she did so. She then relaxed and opened it up, starting to read through its… Heart racing pages, putting it mildly. She read in bed for a good while making progress in her book, when her stomach loudly rumbled, she clutched it with one hand. "… I suppose I should probably eat something. But there's no rush so maybe I could read another-" Her stomach rumbled again more intensely, cutting Blake off and making the decision for her. "Fine, we'll do it your way." She spoke to her stomach as she got out of bed.

Blake was fully dressed in her usual attire, walking into the Dining Hall. The hall was mostly empty with students occupying only a handful of tables, a drastic change from normal. After getting a bowl of cereal, Blake had hoped to take it back to her room and carry on with her reading. However-

"Hey! Yoo-hoo! Over here!"

Blake recognised the voice and looked around her to see Nora waving to her from a table, and Ren silently sitting next to her. Blake had a pained expression that showed she wanted to leave, but she stayed anyway because it would have been rude to have just left. So Blake walked over and sat down with them.

"Good morning." Blake greeted quietly.

"Isn't this weird!" Nora exclaimed. "This place is so empty that it feels like anything I say might- echo! ... Echo- echo- echo- echo…"

"Nora, there is no echo, you're the one making it." Ren commented as he took a bit of toast.

Nora frowned and Blake sighed as she leant her head against the table.

"Are you still tired?" Ren asked.

"No, I was just adjusting to the peace and quiet." Blake answered before eating a spoonful of now-soggy breakfast.

A loud bang came from the one end of the hall making everyone look in that direction. Most people gasped at the sight while Blake just looked on unimpressed that her peaceful morning was constantly getting interrupted. Coming into the hall was Kai… Along with all six of his Pokémon out of their balls.

"Everyone's giving us weird looks." Noivern nervously noticed.

"Well if they've got a problem with us, I'll take care of them." Talonflame grunted.

"That would not be a wise decision Talonflame." Lucario commented. "Neither was kicking open the door."

"I have four feet, what was I meant to do headbutt it? I don't even know that move." Greninja defended.

"You knew what Lucario meant Greninja, show some restraint in your foolishness." Aegislash critiqued.

"Enough waiting! Breakfast's parfume awaits!" Slurpuff declared.

Kai and his team walked through the hall, the students murmured to themselves as Kai spotted Blake, Ren and Nora.

"One of you get me something I'll find a table." Kai said walking to the table. "So, how's everyone today?"

"Why are all of your Pokémon out?" Blake asked.

"It's rude to answer a question with a question, but alright I'll say. Because there's only a handful of people left here, I don't see the harm in letting my family out for the time being. This is their home too after all."

"But…" Blake paused then sighed looking down at the table. "It doesn't matter."

"What is up with you today?" Nora asked bluntly. "You avoid eye contact with us, you act all quiet and mopey, and you've barely touched your food."

"You are keeping to yourself." Ren noticed.

"I'm just thinking, that's all. Why does everyone keep asking if I'm alright?!" Blake responded.

"No one's asked if you're okay Blake." Kai corrected.

"I don't mean you I mean-" Blake sighed. "Can we just change the subject?"

The table was awkwardly quiet for a minute.

"… Well how come you weren't saying goodbye yesterday Kai?" Nora prodded.

Kai shrugged. "I didn't see why I had to go, I didn't have any team members leaving."

"And you didn't think about how your friends would feel?"

"I'm sure they didn't notice."

"Jaune did ask about you." Ren commented. "We told him and Pyrrha that we'd pass our farewells onto you."

"Really, he asked about me." Kai's head drooped. "Well now I do feel bad."

"It doesn't matter too much now. Just make up for it by greeting them when they return." Ren consolidated.

Before anything else could be said Kai's team returned with their breakfast. Greninja had his regular helping of fruit, Talonflame had scrambled eggs and sausages, Aegislash had slices of bread cut into triangles with little packets of: butter, jam and marmalade with a butter knife on the side, Slurpuff had a stack of pancakes (making Nora drool), Lucario had a whopping plate with seemingly everything on it and Noivern had a single apple.

"Uh hum." Kai coughed, and Greninja pushed over a bowl of cereal. "Thank you."

"This better be worth it, the dinner lady gave us some weird looks when we picked stuff out." Greninja commented.

"Where are our manners?" Aegislash critiqued as she started spreading butter and strawberry jam on one slice of toast. "Good morning Ladies Blake and Nora, and to you as well Sir Lie."

"Good parfume to you all." Slurpuff added.

"Well someone's enjoying their food." Nora gestured at Lucario who was happily digging into his feast of a meal.

"Yeah Lucario has always been one to enjoy big breakfasts." Kai said as Lucario spread baked beans and scrambled egg onto a piece of toast.

"It is the most important meal of the day." Lucario excused before shovelling the combination in his mouth, followed soon after by a strip or two of bacon.

Kai looked on happily at his family digging in and started eating his food when he noticed Noivern hadn't taken a bite out of his apple yet. "What's wrong Noivern? I know you don't eat a lot in the mornings, but you should have something."

"Sorry Kai. I will soon, it's just… I still feel bad." Noivern explained.

"Bad about what?"

"… Well, yesterday we were fighting those two and I-"

"You're still upset about that!" Talonflame interrupted. "We were in a sparring match! We were meant to fight each other!"

"I know that. But I still feel like I went too far…"

"You shouldn't worry about it." Ren said. "The fact that you didn't hold back against me, showed respect for me as your opponent."

"That! And when you spun me in that tornado! That was sooo fun! Could you do it again?!" Nora energetically asked.

Noivern smiled. "Well sure! If Kai says it's okay."

Kai shrugged. "Just don't hurt them too bad."

"Don't worry I won't." Noivern promised before beginning to eat his apple.

"I wasn't talking to you Noivern." Kai corrected, as Noivern stared at Nora who began giggling with crazy eyes, making Noivern gulp.

Blake looked at her mushy cereal and ate another spoonful unenthusiastically as Kai cleared his throat.

"Actually I'm glad to have you all here." Kai started to say.

"Uh huh." Blake responded uninterested stirring her cereal.

"As you know, we are the only ones in our friend group who are staying here at Beacon. And the rest of our companions won't be returning for two weeks!"

"Have you been rehearsing this?" Nora asked.

"Twice, more if we include him muttering to himself." Greninja answered.

"As such I think that it's best if we spend some time together, starting with… A sleepover at my dorm!"

The group remained silent. "… A sleepover?" Ren said.

"I mean… Yeah, I- I thought that… You know friends could do that… If you know… You weren't busy since I-I- have the space and…" Kai fumbled slightly embarrassed.

"Sure we'd love to!" Nora answered for everyone.

"Really?!"

"Great." Talonflame grunted annoyed.

"Be polite Talonflame. We should be thankful that Lady Nora has taken Sire's kind offer." Aegislash explained.

"I suppose it seems like a fun way to pass the time." Ren agreed.

Slurpuff jumped onto the table walked to Nora and Ren sniffing them. "Ah, it's good to know you're coming: Syrup parfume and Samurai parfume."

"You hear that Ren? She thinks I'm a samurai!" Nora enthusiastically cried out as Ren sighed in response.

Blake ate another spoonful of cereal, unamused when Slurpuff appeared directly in front of her, taking her by surprise.

"And what about you Purrloin parfume? Will you be joining our parfume?"

"I don't know? Maybe?" Blake answered.

"Do you have anything else planned?" Noivern asked.

"Not particularly."

"Then come. It'll be great."

"I'm just not in the mood."

"Please. Pretty please. Please and thank you. Pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry-"

Blake pushed her bowl of soggy cereal in front of her and abruptly got up.

"Excuse me." She said as she left the table, heading out of the room.

"… On top."

"What's her problem?!" Talonflame complained.

"Guess she wasn't interested." Kai murmured to himself.

"Well it sounded like she didn't care so, good riddance." Greninja commented.

"Lady Blake is a comrade; must you be so blunt in dismissing her." Aegislash critiqued.

Greninja shoved a watermelon slice in his mouth. "Mis mur moss. (It's her loss.)"

Aegislash looked at Greninja disapprovingly before spreading butter and marmalade on another slice of toast. Lucario stared onwards from his pile of food, watching Blake leave, humming in response.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon now just past twelve. Blake was sitting alone in the library, she had open several news articles on a computer about Dust robberies in Vale. Each one she read, she quickly guessed that the White Fang were involved and each one made her more and more despondent.

"May I speak to you in private, Miss Belladonna?"

Blake minimized her tabs quickly and sharply turned around to see Lucario standing behind her.

"Now's not a good time." Blake responded. "If Kai sent you here about his sleepover idea then-"

"Master did not send me, on the contrary he perfectly understands you not wanting to come tonight." Lucario interrupted. "I am here, because I want to talk to you personally."

"About what?" Blake asked cautiously.

"Several things come to mind: your recent attitude, the emotional state of your aura, the fact that just now you were looking over robberies that you presumably linked to the White Fang… However, I believe that these are all linked together. Are you alright Miss Belladonna?"

Blake got up and looked at Lucario seriously. "I'm fine. Nobody needs to ask me."

"I see." Lucario crossed his arms and closed his eyes, his aura sensing appendages rising. "It seems it is just how I predicted, you are purposefully distancing yourself from others."

"What are you-?!"

"Your aura tells me that you are very lonely, however I also sense a strong will to remain alone, a powerful sense of justice for you to atone for your transgressions, and a will and that requires you to do this alone." Lucario stopped sensing Blake's aura and opened his eyes. "Miss Belladonna, you do not need to be alone."

"You don't understand!" Blake retaliated. "This is my problem, my past. I don't want anyone else getting involved and hurting themselves over me!"

"You are uncomfortable being around your teammates? Your friends? Because you cannot separate yourself from your past?" Lucario asked.

"No! Maybe? I don't know, I just-" Lucario put his paw on her shoulder cutting her off.

"I will not trouble you any more Miss Belladonna, however I know how you feel." Lucario took his paw off her and started walking away. "You can stay here, if you want. Or if you'd prefer, you can follow me where I can discuss something to you in privacy."

Lucario walked away and Blake turned back to her computer, she hesitated for a moment before sighing and turning the machine off.

Blake followed Lucario around the school, Lucario kept his eyes closed and his appendages raised sensing aura.

"How much further are we going?" Blake asked.

"Not much further now." Lucario answered.

Lucario started to slow down and stop before turning to the wall and opening a door in front of him. The door led to Beacon's locker room where Lucario walked in and sat down on a wooden bench.

"If you wouldn't mind Miss Belladonna. Could you please close the door on your way in?"

Blake slowly entered the room as well and slowly closed the door before standing in front of Lucario.

"Well?" Blake stated. "What did you want to say?"

Lucario opened his eyes and patted the bench. "Please, sit down."

"I'm more comfortable standing."

"Very well Miss Belladonna." Lucario raised his paw checking one last time for aura before nodding. "We are alone, now we can begin."

"Begin what?"

Lucario breathed deeply and looked at Blake seriously. "Miss Belladonna, what you're experiencing right now. This will to hold onto your past… I myself have experienced similar feelings."

"Because you can sense my aura."

Lucario shook his head. "Because Miss Belladonna, Blake… I have been in a position very similar to yours. One where I left my entire life behind and started again with completely new people."

"What do you mean?"

Lucario paused briefly. "… Kai… Was not my first Master."

"He wasn't."

"No, up until I met him, my entire life had a completely different course."

* * *

 **Several Years ago…**

 **-Morning, Tower of Mastery-**

 _The room was circular and grey with a grey brick floor. In the centre of the room was an idol that held a single room and had above it, a giant stone statue of a Mega Lucario._

 _"_ _ **Car!**_ _"_

 _"_ _ **Car!**_ _"_

 _Two identical Lucario ran across the room each using Power-Up Punch, they stopped in place just in front of each other and used all the momentum they had built to punch each other right in the face pushing each other back._

 _"_ _ **Luca!**_ _"_

 _One of the Lucario charged forwards with two Power-Up Punch covered fists, they threw a myriad of punches but the other Lucario ducked and quickstepped to avoid every one._

 _"_ _ **Rio!**_ _"_

 _The other Lucario span in place and crossed their arms over their chest, generating several glowing swords above their head that clashed with each other. The Lucario pushed their arms to their sides and the swords converged in the centre, causing an orange aura to glow over the Lucario._

 _"_ _ **Car!**_ _" The other Lucario growled as they charged forward with Power-Up Punch._

 _"_ _ **Car!**_ _" The boosted Lucario cried as he ran forward with Power-Up Punch. The two fists collided with each other, but the boosted Lucario's improved strength let him over power the other Lucario, landing a direct hit in their chest knocking them out._

 _"_ _Lucario!" The victorious Lucario cheered._

 _"_ _All right you two, that's enough!"_

 _The victorious Lucario turned his head to the voice, and the defeated Lucario shakily rose their head._

 _The owner of the voice was a girl wearing roller skates and a matching helmet. She was tall and slender with lemon yellow coloured hair that came out as a thick pony tail out of the back of her helmet. Her clothes were_ _consisting of a short white and red sleeveless dress over black cycling shorts along with her skating attire and a white glove on her left hand that had a keystone in it._

 _The girl skated to the victorious Lucario and smiled. "You did great out there, way to dodge those punches." The victorious Lucario gave its cry in appreciation. The girl then skated to the defeated Lucario and helped them up. "You did great too. But next time, try to focus your punches instead of randomly trying to hit something." The defeated Lucario looked at the girl gratefully and nodded smiling, her reflection could be seen in the Lucario's eye._

* * *

"Her name was Korrina." Lucario revealed to Blake in the present day. "Every day she would train with us, feed us, play with us, take us out." Lucario reminisced as memories of these events came back to him. "Ever since I was born it was just me, her and my biological brother, the other Lucario I mentioned."

"Then why did you leave? Did something happen?" Blake asked.

Lucario closed his eyes and exhaled smiling. "Yes Miss Belladonna, something did happen. Something extraordinary."

 **3 Years ago…**

 **-Morning, Route 5-**

 _Kalos Route 5 was a hilly path, which had been converted into a skate park for roller skaters across Kalos to test their skills._

 _Korrina was skating down a ramp before flipping into the air, then falling onto a grind rail which she skidded across. When she reached its end she jumped off it and propelled herself as she landed, allowing her to keep her momentum._

 _Her two Lucario watched from afar cheering her on. One of her Lucario stretched in place before stopping becoming completely stiff. The other Lucario looked at him in concern._

 _"_ _Car?"_

 _The stretching Lucario relaxed and began searching for aura. He stood still with his paw pointed toward the end of the Route, he relaxed and ran as fast as he could. Lucario ignored the several passers-by and charged ahead with tunnel vision, keeping his eyes closed, focused on a specific aura. He was obsessed by it, and as he got closer he prepared himself stopping inches away from it. Lucario opened his eyes to see a familiar fedora wearing trainer standing in front of him._

 _"…_ _Hi there, um…" Kai mumbled before taking out his Pokédex._

\- **Lucario, the Aura Pokémon and the evolved form of** **Riolu** **. Lucario reads the thoughts of -others and anticipates their movements by sensing their auras.**

 _"_ _So you can read aura's huh. I'm not gonna lie, that sounds pretty cool."_

 _Lucario smiled earnestly, he didn't know much, let alone anything about this boy, but something about his aura… It fascinated him._

 _"_ _Wait! Lucario!"_ _Korrina and the other Lucario caught up to Lucario and Kai. "Sorry about that! Are you OK? I was just doing some special training with my Lucario when all of a sudden it dashed off..."_

 _"_ _Me?" Kai replied confused. "I'm fine, I'm guessing this guy belongs to you, he just ran up to me and stopped suddenly."_

 _"_ _Hey, Lucario! What's going on with you? Did you get drawn in by this boy's aura or something?"_

 _"_ _My aura?" Kai murmured._

 _"_ _Lu." Lucario nodded his head._

 _"_ _Huh. Well, it seems Lucario likes you!" Korrina started to say. "See, Lucario can read people's auras. I guess something in your aura has made this one take a liking to a stranger! This Lucario is always getting worked up in battle with my other one. Maybe it's just been waiting for a Trainer to appear who's strong enough to challenge it... Oops, sorry! I was on such a roll, I forgot to even introduce myself! I'm Korrina, the Shalour City Gym Leader. If you're collecting Gym Badges, I'm sure we'll be battling sooner or later! I'll be looking forward to it. I hope you know how to roll with the punches!"_

 _"_ _Really, well then. I'll be sure to challenge you if I'm in the neighbourhood." Kai stated as Korrina began skating away with her Lucario. The Lucario that found Kai however stayed in place and eyed him down before following his trainer._

 _"_ _Well that was interesting. If a bit out of the blue." Kai commented._

* * *

"For quite some time afterwards, Kai's aura was constantly on my mind. I was able to control it however so that it would not get in the way of my training but… Still I could not let it go." Lucario explained to Blake.

"So how did you become his Pokémon?" Blake asked insistently.

Lucario knew she was getting engaged and continued. "As if destiny had planned it, Korrina and Kai met up on several more occasions. Once at Geosenge town where me and my brother took on Kai in a battle that only served to fascinate me even more. Then he arrived at the tower of mastery where I learned of his task from Professor Sycamore to research Mega Evolution, after that he took on Korrina in a gym battle and won, before finally…"

* * *

 **-Midday, Tower of Mastery-**

 _Kai and Korrina with her two Lucario stood on a balcony to the side of the tower. It was high above the ground giving the two of them a beautiful scenery of the region as the wind blew, creating a peaceful sound._

 _Kai whistled. "Gotta admit, this is a pretty nice view."_

 _"_ _I really love this place! When I'm here with my Pokémon, looking at the wide-open sky above, all my worries disappear, and I feel like I can do anything!" Korrina explained. "Thanks for coming all the way up here."_

 _"_ _It's no problem, though would an elevator be too much to ask." Kai laughed to himself. "So you're the successor huh, mind telling me how this Mega Evolution thing works then." Kai lifted his Mega Ring up showing his keystone._

 _"_ _Give your Pokémon the right Mega Stone, and try battling with it! Your Pokémon will surely answer the call of the Mega Ring!"_

 _"_ _I already know that. I just don't have any mega stones to mega evolve any of my Pokémon." Kai stood rubbing his chin when Lucario saw an opportunity and quickly walked to Kai's side giving his cry. "Oh, it's you!"_

 _"Hmm? Lucario, what's wrong?" Korrina asked, and Lucario gave his cry again to respond, Korrina somehow understanding. "Lucario, are you sure? You want to battle alongside that Trainer?"_

 _Kai looked bewildered. "Wait- wait- wait! You want to battle with me?" Lucario nodded._

 _"_ _I don't know what to say... I'm a bit shocked that some traveling Trainer seems to have a stronger bond with you than I do... Haha! Well, he must be something special! So, whaddya say, Trainer? Will you and Lucario battle against me and my Lucario? A Lucario-on-Lucario battle! It will be nothing short of riveting. They both have Lucarionite in hand! How about we get this show on the road?"_

 _Kai looked at Lucario who looked back at Kai confidently, each could see each other's reflection in their eyes. Kai smiled adjusting his fedora. "All right Korrina, let's go!"_

 _Both Lucario stepped forward giving a battle cry._

 _"_ _All right then Kai, follow what I do exactly." Korrina raised her glove over her face, and Kai did the same with his ring, they both pressed the keystone simultaneously and light shone out of it, encasing both Lucario in cocoons before they exploded, revealing their Mega Evolved state._

 _"_ _Whoa!" Kai awed. "That's. So. Awesome." Mega Lucario looked back at Kai grinning._

 _"_ _I know right! Let's get this started!_ _ **Lucario use Power-Up Punch!**_ _" Korrina ordered._

 _Korrina's Mega Lucario delivered a right punch at blinding speeds pushing Kai's Mega Lucario back. Kai's Mega Lucario smirked as Korrina's glowed with an orange aura._

 _"_ _Let's see…" Kai had out his Pokédex and scanned Lucario letting him see his moves. "All right, Mega Lucario,_ _ **Swords Dance!**_ _"_

 _Mega Lucario nodded and spun in place crossing his arms, to make swords clash above his head, sharply boosting his attack._

 _"_ _Not bad, but this isn't gonna be the same as our gym battle._ _ **Lucario, finish this quick with Power-Up Punch!**_ _"_

 _Korrina's Mega Lucario quickly ran at Kai's with a glowing right fist._

 _"_ _Okay Lucario I have an idea, but you have to trust me!" Kai cried._

 _"_ _Lucario!" Lucario barked in agreement._

 _"_ _I'll take that as a yes!_ _ **Lucario use Bone Rush!**_ _" Mega Lucario summoned a bone made of aura and ran at Korrina's Mega Lucario. "Now use it as a pole and jump into the air!"_

 _"_ _What?!" Korrina reacted._

 _"_ _Car?!" Korrina's Mega Lucario growled._

 _Kai's Mega Lucario was unsure but didn't hesitate, pushing the bone into the ground and pushing himself off it with his front paws into the air, out of Power-Up Punch's range._

 _"_ _Get behind the other Lucario!" Kai instructed and his Mega Lucario landed behind the other Mega Lucario. "_ _ **Now use Power-Up Punch!**_ _" Kai's Mega Lucario punched the other one in the back making him wobble on his feet._

 _"_ _Don't give up Lucario!_ _ **Use Power-Up Punch!**_ _" Korrina ordered._

 _"_ _It'll attack from the right! Dodge left and counter,_ _ **with your Power-Up Punch!**_ _"_

 _Korrina's Mega Lucario attacked with his right fist but Kai's warning let his dodge in time leaving hers open as his Mega Lucario pulled back his left fist._

 _"_ _LUCARIO!" Mega Lucario cried as he delivered a powerful punch in the other Lucario's cheek sending him flying across the balcony. He landed on his back knocked out as a pink light enveloped him as he returned to his normal form._

 _"_ _Woo! That was amazing!" Kai cheered as his Mega Lucario panted in pace before giving a toothy smile and reverting back to normal in a pink light._

 _Korrina returned her Lucario and looked at Kai with her other Lucario at his side._

 _"_ _What an explosive battle! I could tell that both Mega Lucario didn't hold anything back! With strong bonds like that, you shouldn't have any trouble triggering your Pokémon's Mega Evolution!" Korrina stated._

 _"_ _Yep, now I just need to find one." Kai looked at Lucario and patted him on the head. "Thanks for everything pal. I owe ya one."_

 _Lucario looked at Kai and smiled, before looking to Korrina. He should have gone to her, but he felt conflicted and just stayed in place._

 _"_ _What's wrong Lucario? You look upset." Kai asked._

 _Korrina looked at her Lucario and sighed. "I think it would be best if you took that Lucario along with you on your journey. It's quite apparent that you two make a truly incredible team!"_

 _Both Kai and Lucario looked at Korrina in surprise._

 _"_ _What?! I- I mean, I don't think I could! He's your Pokémon- unless he wants to join me- in which case I'd be happy to have him but I mean-"_

 _"_ _Lucar…" Lucario kept looking back and forth between Korrina, the trainer who raised her and his brother his whole life. And Kai, this miraculous young man whose aura lit a fire of passion within Lucario's very soul._

 _"_ _You don't want to say goodbye, do you?" Kai said to Lucario who turned back to look at him. "I understand, I'm just some random guy, I have no right asking you to leave your home to join me." Kai started to walk away. "It would have been nice though. Take care of yourself."_

 _Kai felt a tugging at his arm as Lucario stood holding onto him with his paw, tears forming in his eyes._

 _"_ _Lucar… Lucario… Lu Lu Lucario. (Please… Take me with you… Before I change my mind.)_

 _Kai smiled somehow understanding. "We'll be happy to have you Lucario, welcome aboard."_

 _Lucario smiled as Korrina handed Kai his Poké ball._

 _"_ _Take good care of him okay." She said._

 _"_ _I will. I promise." Kai looked at Lucario and held Lucario's Poké ball._

 _Lucario went to Korrina and hugged her legs, tears streaming down before nodding to her and then looked at Kai. Each of them seeing the others reflection in their eyes_

 _"_ _Lucario… Lucario. (Thank you… Master.)"_

* * *

"And that was how I became a part of Kai's family. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I stayed with Korrina, but not a day goes by that I regret joining him." Lucario confessed. Tears started to form and fall off his face.

"I know what you're trying to do." Blake stated as she finally sat down next to Lucario.

"And what's that?" Lucario asked as he wiped his tears away.

"You're comparing you leaving that… Tower and joining Kai, to me leaving the White Fang and becoming a Huntress with Ruby and the others."

"And, how do you feel? Do you regret being on a team with them?"

"No! It's… The opposite." Blake looked down at the floor. "I've been acting distant because I wanted them to avoid dealing with my problems. But now that they're gone… I miss them."

"It is certainly understandable. You live with them, work with them… Getting attached to them is natural, you shouldn't push them away, let them help you."

"But-"

"No buts Miss Belladonna. Let's put it this way, when you ran away, did your teammates just leave you alone."

"No they-"

"Then what would make you think they would leave you alone when you are in the same room as them?" Lucario stated making Blake go silent. Lucario got up. "If you really are lonely, then I recommend you join Kai and the others tonight, it starts at seven if you're curious. Think about it."

Lucario left the room, as Blake thought about what Lucario said. Lucario walked slowly breathing in and out calmly, smiling as he already knew what her answer would be as his eyes went misty again.

 _'_ _Thank you Korrina, for letting me go that day. I hope that Blake can find the same love with her team, that I have had with mine.'_

* * *

 **And here we have the main storyline of this arc: Kai developing his relationships more with a smaller cast which I have dubbed 'Team KRBN' (Carbon). We also learn about Lucario's backstory which makes me curious how many of you guessed it given how Lucario is Kai's only Pokémon not introduced in Kalos.**

 **Regardless until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	24. Chapter 23: Story time

**-Night Time, Beacon Academy-**

Blake was slowly walking along Beacon's empty hallways, she stopped in front of one of the doors and checked her scroll seeing the time as ' _7:03pm_ '. She breathed in and out slowly before clenching her hand into a fist and raising it against the door. Before she could knock, the door opened as Slurpuff in her cooking outfit, waddled out of the room, paying no attention to Blake.

"Parfume- parfume- parfume- parfume-" Slurpuff chanted quietly as she waddled.

Blake shrugged and looked into Kai's dorm to see him and his Pokémon organising.

"Okay- okay- okay-" Kai nervously told himself as he paced around the room.

"It's gonna be fine Kai." Greninja reassured.

"Easy for you to say, you're watching TV!" Kai pointed out as Greninja sat in front of the TV flicking through the channels.

"Correction. I'm trying to find something to watch TV."

"Quit procrastinating Greninja. We need to make our abode suitable for Sire's guests when they arrive." Aegislash stated.

"Come on Aegislash, it's just past seven, nobody arrives at something when it starts."

"Technically since it is a few minutes past, then they are late. As such, by your logic, they'll arrive any moment now."

"Come on guys focus." Kai interrupted. "Let's see: Slurpuff's just left to prepare homemade snacks and refreshments, we've all been cleaning the room for the past hour, they're bringing their own sleeping bags and pyjamas, what else- what else?"

"Are you okay Kai, you look kinda pale." Noivern commented.

"Yeah Noivern I'm fine I just…" Kai exhaled heavily. "I just haven't done something like this before, and I need everything to be just right."

"Is this really such a big deal?" Talonflame asked annoyed.

"Yes it is. These guys are my friends- as weird as it still is to say that. And I haven't been showing that courtesy with them, like with yesterday when I didn't say goodbye to Jaune or the others."

Talonflame scoffed. "And here I thought Noivern was the one who couldn't let things go.

Kai ignored Talonflame and continued. "Anyway, because there's only Blake, Ren and Nora, I can start small with less people and if this works, then I'll be more prepared to deal with everyone else."

"I still don't see the point."

"I bet he'd see the point if Jaune was joining us." Noivern taunted.

"SHUT YOUR FACE!" Talonflame retorted making Noivern recoil, hiding behind his wings as Talonflame settled down.

"All right, calm down people. I need to practice." Kai breathed in and out slowly. "Hello, would you like to come in? Hello, would you like to come in?"

"That's the fourth time you're practising that!" Greninja stated. "Do you really need to practice saying hello. You do it all the time."

"I'm nervous Greninja. You know that when I'm nervous, I freeze up if I don't have anything planned. Besides someone could be waiting to come in right now, so I need to be ready."

"Technically Miss Belladonna has been waiting in the doorway just after Slurpuff left." Lucario revealed.

"Wait what?" Kai looked through the doorway to see Blake standing there. He quickly brushed himself down and adjusted his hat before clearing his throat. "Come in, would you like to hello." Kai said before immediately face-palming.

Greninja began to slow clap. "Wow, good to know all that practice paid off."

"Shut up." Kai walked closer to the door. "Blake, you can come in if you want. You didn't have to wait you know, you could have knocked."

"I didn't want to interrupt." Blake responded as she stepped in. Her eyes were drawn to Kai's desk that had been recently tidied, her eyes focused on the lily. "It's good to know you kept the house plant."

"Yeah, it's been nice. It really lightens up the place." Kai said before awkwardly staying silent not coming up with anything. "Sooo… How's life?"

"Good… It's been… Good." Blake awkwardly replied.

"…"

"…"

" **Wheel of Fortune!** " The TV broadcasted.

"Can you believe it, they have the exact same show in Remnant." Greninja commented.

"Greninja, turn it off." Kai responded annoyed,

Greninja sighed. "Fine." Greninja turned the TV off. "It took me forever to find something you know."

"Well we won't need that tonight, we're trying to be sociable."

"And how's that turning out for ya?"

"Awkward, to say the least."

"Well, guess it's up to me to get this party started." Greninja got up and stretched before making his way to Blake. "So what was it like, being part of an equal rights group?"

"That's a bit forward Greninja!"

"What? I said equal rights group. Not extremist, terrorist, violent-"

"Just! Stop!"

"No it's fine Kai. The White Fang is a part of my past, I'm not ashamed of what I did, just upset at what happened." Blake confessed.

"… Go on." Greninja pressured.

Blake sighed and sat down on the floor. "Honestly the White Fang felt natural to me. The rallies, the preparation, it was all just a part of regular life. I even got… Close with some people." Kai and the rest of his Pokémon sat down and listened attentively. "I still remember going on missions with some of them, they were like… My first team."

"Do you feel comfortable talking about this to us Miss Belladonna?" Lucario asked.

"Yeah… I'm ready to talk about it."

Lucario smiled. "Then please proceed."

"I remember… This one mission in particular, back when I didn't quite realise how far the White Fang had fallen.

* * *

 **1 Year ago…**

 **-Night Time-**

 _Remnants moon, and the starry night sky were the only thing illuminating the area. Several warehouses were scattered close together alongside a private runway. Private security cased the area wearing Kevlar and carrying guns, in the shadows was a familiar girl, not wearing her bow._

 _She scouted the area before going wide eyed when she heard the sound of footsteps. She quickly tuned around pulling out her sheathed weapon in front of her._

 _"_ _Easy with that Blake." A man's voice said._

 _As the man got closer, Blake could see more of their appearance. He was tall with red and brown hair that spiked backward in a windswept way. He wore a White Fang mask, which obscured his eyes and upper face. His Faunus heritage appears to be that of a bull, for he has two horns- one on each side of his head. He wore a long-sleeved black trench coat with slit sleeves with red designs and a white symbol on the left side. His trench coat is red on the inside with red flame-like accents at the bottom and had a wilting rose emblem on the back over a white floral design. His trench coat is half-buttoned, exposing a red shirt with a black line running parallel to his collar under it. He wore black plants and two his side was a sheathed Katana._

 _"_ _Adam." Blake said relieved. "Where's Ilia?"_

 _"_ _She's handling the explosives." Adam replied unemotionally. "What about the patrol?"_

 _"_ _Ten armed guards active at all times switching every twenty minutes. The last switch was seven minutes ago."_

 _"_ _I see." Adam cautiously stepped forward. "The Dust shipment should be arriving any moment now, when it does-"_

 _"_ _We hijack it for ourselves and set off some explosions as a diversion."_

 _Adam smiled. "Good. Get ready."_

 _Adam rested his hand on his katana and Blake cautiously held her sheathed weapon in front of her. After a couple of minutes, a loud sound was heard approaching. Over the runway, a large airship was landing, half of the armed guards moving towards it._

 _"_ _Go." Adam muttered and he and Blake quickly went ahead. A couple of the guards were cautious, after hearing footsteps, one of them turned around when Adam shot his sheath forward hitting them in the face knocking them out. The other guard went to call for back up but Blake jumped from a shadow clone to slash through them before jumping backwards from a clone into the air slashing them again from behind before slamming them with the side of the sheath knocking them out. With no time to hide the bodies, Blake and Adam pressed on sticking close to the shadows of buildings and towers._

 _The three remaining guards noticed the knocked-out ones and two of them ran to them, the third put his fingers to his ear._

 _"_ _We have been compromised. Repeat we have been compromised. Redirect the cargo immediately!"_

 _Adam frowned. "Well this is just perfect."_

 _"_ _Don't be so dramatic." Blake replied. The five guards at the airship began waving lights in the air, and the ship began moving again. "Now what?"_

 _Adam put his fingers to his ear. "We're moving to plan B Ilia. Finish planting the explosives and wait for my mark."_

 _"_ _Plan B?"_

 _"_ _We burn this place to the ground, it's better to shut down their operations than to try again later." Blake remained silent. "Don't flinch Blake, not now."_

 _"…_ _Right." Blake responded._

 _"_ _Intruders! Over there!" A guard pointed Adam and Blake out._

 _Adam tightly gripped his sword jumping forward, quickly unsheathing it slicing the guards' gun in half. He went to slice the guys neck when Blake jumped down from above, knocking the guard out with her sheath._

 _"_ _We don't need to kill them Adam." Blake stated._

 _Several streams of bullet fire headed towards them from two of the other guards, Adam stepped in front of Blake and began ricocheting them with his sword._

 _"_ _Try telling that to them." Adam argued._

 _Blake unsheathed her sword, configuring it into a gun shooting it forward as she held onto the ribbon. Using it like a chain-scythe she started swinging it around repeatedly swiping the two guards. With the bullet fire ceasing Adam leaped forward and kicked one of the guards in the face, while Blake used her weapon to pull the second guard closer to her, where she struck him in the legs with her sheath making him flip in mid-air and land on his head. Both of the guards were knocked out and Adam and Blake quickly ran towards the departing airship. Blake pulled out her gun and started shooting at the ship only for the bullets to bounce off. A large gun slowly rose from the ship and began charging a blue laser._

 _"_ _Get me in close!" Adam ordered. Blake nodded and she leaped from a clone shooting her gun at the ship. It stuck and she pulled herself onto the roof. She quickly stabbed one of the wings with her sword making it slightly explode, before doing the same with the one next to it. The ship violently turned shaking Blake off and positioning itself in Adams path. The laser fired a blue beam which Adam blocked with his sword partially out of his sheath, right when the beam faded Adam sheathed his sword and his hair began glowing red. The ship flew in his direction and he quickly unsheathed his sword, the sky seemed to go red showing only Remnants moon, Adam was a black silhouette with only his hair showing colour as the airship was sliced in half falling out of the sky and exploding behind Adam before seemingly turning to dust. The world returned to normal and Adam turned to Blake to see her with a saddened expression._

 _"_ _Come on! Let's go!" Adam ordered as he ran away. Gun fire followed him, as well as Blake._

 _"_ _We're not gonna make it!" Blake shouted._

 _Adam calmly placed his fingers on his ear. "Now."_

 _The runway and it buildings suddenly exploded burning the area in light. Some screaming was heard in the distance and the gun fire stopped. Blake didn't want to know why, and just kept running not looking back._

 _Blake and Adam stood far away from the air strip on a hill far away where they could still see the light from the explosions flames._

 _"_ _A shame that the mission didn't go as planned, but at least there's one less Schnee transport in the world." Adam contemplated._

 _"…"_ _Blake remained silent._

 _"_ _What's wrong?"_

 _"_ _What do you think is wrong?" Blake replied upset. "There were people there! Innocent people!"_

 _"_ _They weren't innocent!" Adam shouted back. "They worked for the company that unfairly treats our brethren. Most of them were humans who would turn a blind eye or encourage our enslavement and those who weren't were traitors turned their back on their brothers and sisters!" Blake looked down sadly and Adam hugged her placing his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out at you. It's just the stress."_

 _Blake smiled. "I know it is."_

 _Adam smiled back and let her go walking away. "Ilia wanted to see you by the way."_

 _Blake looked at Adam. "Tell her I'll be there in a minute. I just need to think right now."_

 _Adam turned away and began walking. "Take all the time you need."_

 _When Adam was gone Blake frowned again and looked at the light in the distance._

* * *

"That was the moment I realised that the White Fang, had started to delve into violence and hatred instead of peace and equality. And it was on that night, that I began thinking of what else I could do to help people and right the injustice in this world. And here we are." Blake concluded in the present day.

"That was… Um…" Kai mumbled.

"It must have been very emotional sharing that with us. Thank you for doing so Blake." Lucario complemented making Blake smile.

"So who was the guy?" Greninja asked.

"He was… A good friend." Blake answered.

"Did he leave with you?" Noivern asked.

"No he… He didn't."

"So he's still out there. I wonder if he was one of the jerks at the docks." Talonflame said.

"If he was, you wouldn't be here." Blake replied seriously.

"Lady Blake, is something the matter?" Aegislash asked cautiously.

"It's nothing, just… Talking about my past, about him, it brings up some past feelings."

"Was he really that bad?" Greninja asked.

"The opposite really. At least when we started, but over time… He became ruthless, and spiteful. He became everything I came to regret about what the White Fang has become."

"I'm sorry you had to bring this up." Kai sympathised.

"It's fine. It had to come up some time." Blake stated before the room went quiet.

Lucario exhaled heavily. "I think we've gotten off topic."

"Were we ever on topic?" Greninja commented.

"We're hereee!"

Nora and Ren stood in the doorway and walked in.

"Nice of you to come." Kai appreciated.

"Yes, and only ten minutes late… Give or take a few either way." Lucario stated.

"Better late than never." Noivern added.

"That's debatable." Talonflame argued.

"So, what'd we miss?" Nora asked intrusively.

"I just finished telling a story." Blake answered.

"We're doing stories! My turn!" Nora sat down in the middle of everyone. "So, there we were…"

Talonflame groaned. "Great, we're doing this again…"

* * *

 **Roughly 9 months ago…**

 **-Midday, Somewhere in Anima-**

 _Nora and Ren were walking along a dirt trail road wearing backpacks. To their left and right were trees, and natural scenery. Nora was humming along carefree while Ren was looking at a map._

 _"_ _I spy with my little eye~" Nora chirped. "Something beginning wiiith… B!"_

 _"_ _Birds?" Ren replied._

 _"_ _Nope."_

 _"_ _Bark?"_

 _"_ _Nope."_

 _"_ _Bees?"_

 _"_ _Nope."_

 _"…_ _Berries?"_

 _"_ _Nope."_

 _This went on for_ _a little while_ _literal hours._

 _"…_ _I give up." Ren eventually conceded. "What was it?"_

 _"_ _Boredom!" Nora answered._

 _"_ _Technically you can't see boredom."_

 _"_ _Well I did, and it looks like us and this road. We've been walking forever!"_

 _"_ _It shouldn't be that much farther now, only a few more miles."_

 _"_ _Uuugh!" Nora moaned before collapsing on her front, her face in the dirt. "Metz make ma make. (Let's take a break.)"_

 _"_ _I suppose it would give us energy to help push through the last stretch."_

 _Nora and Ren were sitting quietly on the path, Ren pulled a bottle with a mysterious green liquid from his backpack, opening it and taking a sip._

 _"_ _Bleh!" Nora recoiled sticking her tongue out and pinching her nose. "Is that another one of your toxic drinks?"_

 _"_ _It's not toxic." Ren calmly defended. "It's a nutritious health drink to strengthen the immune system and improve digestion. Want some?"_

 _Nora looked at the drink and went slightly green before going into her own backpack. "Pass." Nora rummaged carefree when she heard the sound of branches cracking. She looked up and nervously tapped Ren's shoulder. "Um Ren?"_

 _"_ _No Nora. I did not take your sugary snacks or beverages."_

 _"_ _It's not that it's erm. How can I put this without making you panic…? I spy with my little eye something beginning with G."_

 _"_ _G?" Ren said confused. "Greenery?"_

 _"_ _Nope."_

 _"_ _Grass?"_

 _"_ _Nope."_

 _Ren looked behind Nora to see a horde of Grimm heading their way._

 _"_ _Grimm!" He exclaimed standing up and pulling out his blades._

 _"_ _There you go! You got it!" Nora congratulated as she got up unfolding her hammer._

 _"_ _We need to be careful Nora." Ren started to say. "There's a lot of them, so if we don't mind our surroundings then-"_

 _"_ _Blah, blah, let's hit em'!" Nora interrupted. She quickly ran up to one of the Beowolf's quickly lifting her hammer above her, swinging it down on the monsters' head crushing it against the ground. Three more Beowolf's charged at Nora from three different sides, Nora quickly swung her hammer around her spinning in place knocking the Grimm away with a swinging before stopping clutching her head. "Woo. That was fun."_

 _"_ _Or we could just do go in." Ren deadpanned. "Why not?"_

 _Ren ran at the hoard slashing a Grimm's chest several times making them fall flat. Another one went to slash downwards at Ren, he reacted fast enough flip kicking its head to knock it off balance before cutting it's head off. Ren turned around blocking a Beowolf's slash, before shoving the claws to the side and striking the centre of the Grimm's chest with his palms creating a pink shockwave that sent it flying. A loud explosive sound was heard near Ren causing him to turn around seeing Nora with her grenade launcher surrounded by pink smoke and disintegrating Grimm. She smiled victoriously as Ren put away his weapons._

 _"_ _Think that's the last of them?" Nora asked._

 _"_ _I believe so. Come on let's-" Ren started to say when a horrific slurping sound was heard coming from the ground and the two of them stared in disbelief as the Grimm ashes started swirling together to form a pitch-black tornado. The sky suddenly went blood red, and lightning struck the area around them lighting the ground on red fire. The tornado gave off a horrific soul shaking roar, as it grew a pair of blood red hyper-realistic eyes._

 _"_ _ **FOOLISH MORTALS I SHALL EAT YOUR SOU-!**_ _"_

* * *

"That is nowhere near close to what actually happened." Ren interrupted in real time.

"Well it was more interesting than the truth." Nora defended.

"Hyper realistic eyes." Talonflame repeated. "What even is that. The end of that story sounded like bad Fanfiction."

Aegislash suddenly went stiff.

"What is it Aegislash?" Kai asked.

"Forgive my mannerisms. But I just felt the most peculiar sensation." Aegislash began to say. "As if what Talonflame said just summed up our existence."

"What are you blathering about? I'm saying her story sucked!" Talonflame critiqued.

"As if you've got any better ones?" Nora sceptically responded.

Talonflame smirked. "As a matter of fact-" Talonflame darted his head to face Kai. "Tell them about one of our battles Kai."

Kai put his chin on his fist in thought. "Hmm… Which one?" Kai contemplated. Suddenly his eyes opened wide, and he abruptly stood up. "I know! Give me a sec!" Kai went to another side of the room and started rummaging through his yellow rucksack.

"What's he getting?" Blake asked.

Greninja shrugged his shoulders. "No clue."

"I may have an idea." Lucario stated.

"Of course, you do… Are you going to say it?"

"I think it would be better if we just wait."

"Of course, you'd say that."

"Here we go!" Kai exclaimed as he came back to the group with a rectangular metal case in his hands. It was dark blue on top, black on the bottom and had a white symbol of a tilted Poké ball with a large triangle coming from the bottom half.

"It's a case. Great story." Nora remarked.

"The case isn't the story." Kai opened the case up showing eight metal badges pressed into black memory sponge. "These are the stories."

"It's a bunch of buttons… Great stories."

Kai gave Nora a disappointed look. "These are gym badges. They're symbols that show people and Pokémon your worth as a trainer."

"How did you get them?" Ren asked.

"Gym badges are rewards for beating powerful trainers that specialise in one Pokémon type. There's normally eight of them per region and can only be obtained if you beat them in a battle, following their rules in their battlefield known as a Pokémon gym."

"So, you beat them all." Blake said.

"Yep. And each of these badges reminds me of the winning battle every time. As well as the… Occasional loss. Now then!" Kai shoved the case into Blake's hands. "Pick one."

"Me?"

"Sure, why not? Pick one and I'll tell everyone the story of how I won it."

Blake looked down at the case in front of her studying the badges. They were of varying shapes and colours, though Blake had no idea what each one could represent. Eventually she grabbed one and showed it to Kai.

"What about this one?" She asked.

The badge was a golden hexagon. At each of the edges was a blue gem that looked like a raindrop, and the centre of the badge showed a white shape that was reminiscent of pointy rocks.

"Ah, the _'Iceberg Badge'_ the last badge I earned in fact." Kai began to say.

"What type did they use?" Ren asked.

"Really? You don't know what the ICE-berg badge's type would be?" Greninja mocked.

"To be fair, I don't believe Master has ever gone into full detail on all the existing types." Lucario stated.

"To answer your question Ren; the gym leader used Ice type Pokémon." Kai continued to explain. "Ice types are excellent offensively but are arguable the worst defensively, though I can't judge since I've never had one on my team. But still, that guy was quite the challenge…"

* * *

 **3 Years ago…**

 **-Dusk, Snowbelle Gym-**

 _The inside of the gym was seemingly made of ice, and primarily composed of four differently coloured platforms. On some of the intersections were ace trainers wearing purple clothing and at the end of the gym were two sets of ice stairs that led to an ice battlefield with two places to stand for trainers. The one closest to the stairs was empty, while the other was occupied by the gym leader themselves._

 _The gym leader was an old, but muscular man, with light blue eyes, a gray beard and a moustache, known as side whiskers. He wore a blue winter jacket with red edges over a white tank top. He also wore black pants and black boots with red heels, and a locket around his neck._

 _"_ _Hmm… Interesting you know." The man murmured. His attention was currently on a particular battle between one of his trainers and a challenger._

 _"_ _ **Lucario use Aura Sphere!**_ _" Kai ordered. Lucario put his paws together and executed the attack, knocking out a peculiar two-headed ice cream Pokémon. "All right!" Lucario looked back at Kai smiling, giving a grunt of approval before getting returned._

 _The trainer let Kai through and let him stand on a button, on the platform he was on causing another platform to rotate, affecting which paths became available._

 _"_ _Please tell me, that's right." Kai moaned as the gym leader looked on at him amused._

 **15 minutes later…**

 _"_ _Finally!" Kai gasped as he walked to the top of the stairs. "So, Wulfric, are you ready to fight this time. Or am I going to have to go through that Arceus forsaken forest again."_

 _Wulfric grinned. "_ _Y'know what? Ice is both extremely hard and terribly fragile at the same time. You know what that means? Depending on which Pokémon you choose and what moves they use, I could be your most challenging opponent yet or I could be a total pushover. But that's all right. That's how it should be! Anyway, enough of my rambling! Let's get this show on the road!"_

 _An ace trainer stood on a podium at the side, a monitor turned on behind them showing Wulfric and Kai's portraits as well as three Poké ball symbols by them and a 'VS' symbol in between them._

 _"_ _The battle between Wulfric the gym leader and Kai Emblem is about to begin! I will act as the referee!" The trainer declared. "Both trainers will use three Pokémon and the battle will be over when all of one sides Pokémon are unable to continue. In addition, only the challenger may switch Pokémon in battle, are both participants ready?" Both trainers nodded. "_ _ **Then let the gym battle begin!**_ _"_

 _"_ _Go, Abomasnow!" Wulfric shouted throwing out a Poké ball._

 _The Poké ball opened to reveal_ _a large, bipedal creature covered in shaggy, white fur. It had pale purple eyes with bushy eyebrows and long strands of fur covering its mouth and two tufts of longer fur growing on both its back and chest. Its hands, feet, and tail are dark green and spiky, similar to the foliage of an evergreen tree and on its back are four green spikes that resemble pinecones. The moment he appeared thick white clouds formed over the battlefield which began raining hail._

 _"_ _Noivern, this is your moment!" Kai declared bringing out Noivern. Noivern screeched before visibly shivering and chattering his teeth in the cold._

 _"_ _You know, in all my years as a gym leader I don't think I've ever seen a trainer bring out a Pokémon that weak to ice with such confidence before." Wulfric evaluated._

 _Noivern lowered his head shamefully. "Vern… (Oh…)"_

 _"_ _I'm aware of the type disadvantage but well…" Kai rubbed the back of his head. "I've only gotten Noivern recently so I haven't had the chance to use him in a gym battle, and I don't think it would be right to not include him one. Besides we've been training for this! Aaand- Abomasnow has a weakness to Flying type moves so it's not decided yet!"_

 _Kai's enthusiasm sparked a sense of confidence in Noivern making him lift his head proudly. "Noivern! (That's right!)" He exclaimed._

 _"_ _That burning passion between trainers and Pokémon! That's what I like to see!" Wulfric declared. "Enough waiting! I want to see that burning spirit in action!_ _ **Abomasnow use Ice Shard!**_ _"_

 _Abomasnow opened his mouth and spat a barrage of fast moving icicles at Noivern._

 _"_ _ **Shatter the ice with your Supersonic Noivern!**_ _" Kai ordered. Noivern wailed creating pink soundwaves from his ears that that vibrated at such a frequency that the ice shattered like glass. "That's it! Keep it up pal! Just like we practiced!"_

 _"_ _Noi- Vern! (You se- Gaah!)" Noivern's small victory was interrupted when a clump of ice landed directly on his head making him groan._

 _"_ _Hail?!" Kai looked at Abomasnow and his eyes narrowed._

 _"_ _So, you know." Wulfric interrupted Kai's train of thought. "Abomasnow's ability is Snow Warning. It creates a hail weather effect that will periodically deal small bits of damage to any Pokémon that aren't ice type_

 _"_ _Not a problem!" Kai responded defiantly. "_ _ **Noivern take out Abomasnow with Air Slash!**_ _"_

 _Noivern's wings glowed blue and he flapped them creating sharp saw blades made of wind that headed straight for Abomasnow._

 _"_ _Take the hit Abomasnow!" Wulfric ordered. Abomasnow was pushed back when the attack hit, he knelt with a pained expression before recovering looking straight at Noivern. "_ _ **Now use Ice Beam!**_ _"_

 _"_ _ **Dodge it Noivern!**_ _" Kai cried desperately._

 _"_ _Vern." Noivern grumbled._

 _Abomasnow generated a pale blue light in his mouth and shot forth a freezing laser. The laser struck the battlefield covering it in a layer of frost before Abomasnow aimed it upwards into the air at Noivern. Noivern flew upwards to dodge the laser but Abomasnow continued aiming the attack making Noivern fly through the air, evasively: twirling, stopping, starting, diving, ascending until the attack connected driving Noivern against the wall._

 _"_ _VERN!"_

 _"_ _Noivern!"_

 _The beam ceased and Noivern's white fur had sprinklings of frost over it. His eyes were closed and he began to fall._

 _"_ _Come on Noivern! Pull up!"_

 _"_ _Don't push your Pokémon so hard. He did his best, you should be proud." Wulfric consolidated._

 _Kai clenched his fists. "Pull up…" Noivern continued falling. "Pull up." Noivern's eye lid squinted. "PULL UP NOIVERN!"_

 _Noivern's eyes shot open and he opened his eyes before hitting the floor, flying just over the icy surface. "Noivern! (Not yet!)"_

 _"_ _Boma?!" Abomasnow exclaimed._

 _"_ _Incredible!" Wulfric complemented._

 _Kai smirked. "I know ice types are a problem, and after looking at their attacks I gave Noivern some extra Special Defense training to cope."_

 _"_ _Not bad but it will take more than special training to beat me. Take a look." Wulfric pointed at Noivern when hail landed on his wings making him wince._

 _"_ _The hail..." Kai murmured._

 _'_ _Even if Noivern tanked the hit he must still be low on health, with the hail he won't last long, and one hit will probably knock him out… I need to finish this fast!' Kai strategically thought._

 _"_ _ **Abomasnow, finish off Noivern with Ice Shard!**_ _"_

 _"_ _ **Noivern, don't stop and push through with Supersonic!**_ _"_

 _Abomasnow's Ice Shard and Noivern's Supersonic intercepted meeting the same result as before._

 _"_ _ **Don't stop yet Abomasnow!**_ _"_

 _"_ _ **Noivern, increase your Supersonics' amplitude! Break through and land a hit on Abomasnow!**_ _"_

 _Abomasnow kept firing waves of icicles. "Aboma…"_

 _Noivern continuously wailed as he was flying. "Noiiii!"_

 _"_ _Noivern, give it everything you've got, you can do it!" Kai encouraged. Noivern reeled back his head before wailing even louder, creating larger sound waves that broke through the Ice Shard and colliding with Abomasnow making him cover the sides of his head and shake._

 _"_ _Abomasnow hang on!" Wulfric shouted._

 _"_ _Keep flying Noivern! Get in Abomasnow's face!"_

 _"_ _Noivern! (On it Kai!)" Noivern responded, before he began flying straight at Abomasnow at high speeds, the hail chipping away at his stamina._

 _"_ _Abomasnow get ready to take Noivern out!" Wulfric warned._

 _"_ _ **Noivern use Air Slash!**_ _"_

 _Noivern performed an aileron roll in the air using Air Slash to send several wind saws at Abomasnow, making him cry out and go on one knee when they hit._

 _"_ _Abomasnow can you continue?" Wulfric asked._

 _"_ _Aboma…" Abomasnow replied weakly._

 _Wulfric clenched his teeth. "_ _ **Abomasnow use Ice Beam!**_ _"_

 _Abomasnow generated a pale blue light in his mouth._

 _"_ _Noivern watch out!" Kai warned._

 _"_ _Vern-! Vern! (Whoa-! Wait!)" Noivern panicked before noticing something. He narrowed his eyes at Abomasnow before flapping his wings, letting him get closer._

 _"_ _Noivern what are you-?!"_

 _Abomasnow lurched his head forward to fire when he instead head-butted the ground before clasping his head in pain._

 _"_ _He hit himself in confusion?!" Wulfric exclaimed._

 _Kai looked at Noivern fondly. "Well I be… Noivern let's wrap this up!"_

 _"_ _Abomasnow get up!"_

 _Abomasnow took his hands off his head only for a black blur to appear directly in front of him._

 _"_ _Snow?!" Abomasnow reacted startled._

 _"_ _ **Noivern use Boomburst!**_ _"_

 _Noivern's ears began to glow and he thrust his head forward. "Noi- VERRRN! (It's- OVEEER!)" Boomburst was delivered at point blank range thrusting Abomasnow off the ground, over the battlefield and indenting himself into a wall, creating a cloud vapor. When the vapor dispelled, it showed Abomasnow battered with spiral eyes._

 _"_ _Noivern you did it!"_

 _Noivern grinned. "Noivern! Noivern! Noi-! (I won! I feel great! I-!)" Noivern's victory was cut off when a chunk of hail landed directly on his head. Noivern remained completely still then collapsed on his front._

 _"_ _Noivern!"_

 _The referee darted his eyes between the two Pokémon raising both of his hands. "Both Pokémon are unable to battle. This battle is a draw."_

 _Kai exhaled looking up at the hail, his breath visible in front of his face. "A tie…"_

 _A quiet murmuring was heard on the battlefield, Kai looked down to see Noivern shivering with his eyes clenched, looking down shamefully._

 _"_ _That was an excellent battle Noivern!" Wulfric exclaimed causing Noivern to look up at him. Wulfric pulled out a Poké ball and returned Abomasnow. "I've seen a lot of things in my time. But never a Noivern that was able to withstand an Ice Beam then hold on long enough to take one of my Pokémon out. You should be proud, you know."_

 _Noivern gaped his mouth with wide eyes before closing it and turning to Kai smiling. Kai smiled back returning Noivern. "You did great out there. Get some rest." Kai applauded._

 _"_ _I knew there was a burning passion when I saw you. Show me more!"_

 _"_ _Can both trainers please bring out your next Pokémon!" The referee ordered._

 _Kai enlarged a ball in his hand. "Talonflame, you're up next!"_

 _"_ _Taalonflaaame! (Leeet's gooo!)" Talonflame cried as he came out._

 _"_ _So his next Pokémon's Talonflame." Wulfric grabbed another Poké ball. "Come on out Avalugg!"_

 _Avalugg was a massive Pokémon seemingly formed entirely out of reflective ice. Its top half was flat, with three cracks, one before its stubby tail and two in between its four legs. These legs are cylindrical, and also sport purple cracks at its joints and in between its icy toes. Underneath each toe is a spike, similar to cleats. Large icicles hang from its underside, which nearly touched the ground. Avalugg's head is similar to its body, a cracked wedge of ice with a flattened upper surface. Its mouth had a large under bite, which opened up to reveal four small teeth and purple gums. The head had two white diamond-shaped 'ears', and from its chin hanged three bulging spikes, resembling a beard._

 _"_ _Whoa. That thing is huge!" Kai awed._

 _"_ _Tal. (Pft.)" Talonflame scoffed._

 _"_ _Let the battle resume!" The referee declared._

 _"_ _ **Talonflame use Flame Charge!**_ _" Kai ordered._

 _"_ _Flaaame!" Talonflame yelled diving head first into Avalugg's back. Talonflame slid off flying back into the air as Avalugg stared at him unfazed._

 _"_ _But that was super-effective?!"_

 _"_ _I told you ice is extremely hard, my Avalugg's defence lets it weather even attacks it's weak against without breaking. And its ice will only get harder-_ _ **Avalugg use Curse!**_ _"_

 _"_ _Luuug!" Avalugg roared. Purple columns of energy rose from his body and he glowed with a blue aura lowering his speed then an orange aura boosting his attack and defence._

 _"_ _Flame." Talonflame growled before the hail struck him making him groan before yelling at the clouds._

 _"_ _Wait a minute!" Kai focused his attention on Avalugg. Specifically areas where the hail landed on him began to glow green, as the burn marks from Talonflame's attack began to vanish. "It's healing itself?!"_

 _"_ _Talon! (Cheater!)" Talonflame yelled._

 _"_ _That's my Avalugg's ability Ice Body. When it hails, Avalugg restores its HP as periodically as an opponent might lose it." Wulfric explained._

 _"_ _I get it now. That's why he sent out Abomasnow first." Kai realised looking at the clouds. "Good thing it's only temporary, Noivern's battle helped stall it out. So I won't have to deal with it much longer, but right now I have to figure out how to break through that things defences."_

 _"_ _Talonflame! (Wake up Kai!)" Talonflame shouted getting Kai's attention. "Talon Talon! (Let me at him!)"_

 _Kai snapped out of his trance and stared down the battlefield. "Thanks I needed that! And I think I have an idea._ _ **Talonflame use Steel Wing non-stop!**_ _"_

 _Talonflame's wings became metallic and he flew at Avalugg sideways slicing down its back before flying through the air._

 _"_ _So now you're trying a Steel Type move. You know that's not gonna cut it._ _ **Avalugg keep using Curse!**_ _" Wulfric ordered._

 _Avalugg used Curse changing its stats again as another round of hail pelted down on Talonflame, healing Avalugg. Talonflame cawed and went back around with Steel Wing again, striking Avalugg's side but he didn't even budge as he continued using Curse. The hail fell again producing the same result but Talonflame wasn't deterred, if anything he was getting even more fired up. He flew low to the ground quickly slamming Avaluggs leg dealing a critical hit making him kneel._

 _"_ _Yes Talonflame!" Kai congratulated seeing Talonflame fly off, an orange aura over him._

 _"_ _ **Now Avalugg use Avalanche!**_ _" Wulfric ordered._

 _Avalugg lurched its head forward crying out. Giant clumps of ice appeared above Talonflame and began to rain down bringing Talonflame down to the ground._

 _"_ _Talonflame!" Kai cried out._

 _"_ _Hm. Avalanche's power doubles if the user is hit before using it. That along with three attack boosts from Curse and I doubt that Talonflame of yours could handle tha-"_

 _The sound of ice falling and cracking cut Wulfric off as Talonflame stood up. "Talon Talonflame! (Is that all you've got!)"_

 _"_ _And, time's up." Kai declared. The clouds parted and the hail stopped._

 _"_ _Incredible, you planned all that." Wulfric stated._

 _"_ _Sort of. The only reason Talonflame managed to take that hit was because that last Steel Wing gave him a defense boost which is what I was aiming for. And I knew that the hail could only last a certain number of turns, though yours lasted longer than usual" Kai explained. "Now if you'll excuse us-_ _ **Talonflame use Flame Charge! Give it everything you've got!**_ _"_

 _"_ _ **Taalooon!**_ _" Talonflame cloaked himself in fire flying straight at Avalugg._

 _"_ _ **Counter it with Crunch, Avalugg!**_ _"_

 _"_ _ **Avaaa!**_ _" Avalugg opened his mouth wide, his teeth glowed white and grew in size and sharpness._

 _"_ _TALONFLAME!"_

 _"_ _AVALUGG!"_

 _The two Pokémon cried as the attacks collided creating an explosion, covering the two in cloud vapor and smoke. The vapor cleared revealing the result… Avalugg remained standing while Talonflame lay flat knocked out._

 _"_ _Talonflame…" Kai whispered._

 _The referee raised his hand closest to Wulfric (his right). "Talonflame is unable to battle! Avalugg is the winner!"_

 _"…_ _Ava…Lugg…" He panted._

 _Wulfric grunted. "That was a close call, but it looks like our defense won us the fight."_

 _"_ _Taalon…" Talonflame groaned. "Talon! Talon! Flame! Talon-! (You! Lousy! Healing! Tank-!)" Kai returned him before he could say anything else._

 _"_ _Talonflame doesn't like to lose, sorry." Kai apologized._

 _"_ _Don't be. A competitive drive that strong. I could see his fiery passion for battle you know. Now bring out your last Pokémon! Let's finish this!"_

* * *

"I still hate that Avalugg." Talonflame moaned in present day.

"So, do you sometimes just say your name randomly?" Nora asked.

"It's a battle cry!"

"It's pretty weird- ooh! Maybe I should try it!"

"Please don't." Ren responded.

"So, who did you bring out last? Was it Lucario?" Blake asked.

"That would have been an ideal choice, but no." Lucario answered. "Master decided to use me instead to deal with the trainers guarding the gym."

"Then was it Aegislash? Kai did show that she resists ice."

"Again Lady Blake, a wise judgment. However, Sire did not require me for this particular bout." Aegislash explained.

"So, who was it?"

Kai scratched his chin. "Well-" Before Kai could continue he was cut off by the sound of a knock on the door. "Did you close the door when you came in?"

Nora looked at Ren. "It seemed polite." Ren defended.

Kai shook his head and got up opening the door.

"My parfume is ready!" Slurpuff announced as she walked in. On her right arm was a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and mini cheddar biscuits. And on left arm was a large jug of freshly squashed fruit juice. She placed the snacks on the floor as she removed her cooking attire.

"Thank you Slurpuff." Kai thanked as he grabbed some disposable cups from his backpack.

"I hope my parfume did not miss much."

"We were just going over our battle against that Wulfric guy." Noivern answered. "Talking about it still makes me shiver."

"Ah, Pokémon parfume. I remember our battle well."

"Pokémon parfume?" Ren asked.

"Wulfric spent his time caring to wild Pokémon, so I guess he just smelled like the Pokémon he helped." Kai answered.

"Wait!" Nora interrupted. "Did you say ' _our_ ' fight?"

Slurpuff nodded, and Blake and Ren understood what Nora suggested.

"No way." Blake said in disbelief.

Kai caught on and gave her a smug look, as Slurpuff giggled showing her signature goofy smile with her tongue hanging out.

* * *

 _"_ _Slurpuff, it's up to you!" Kai declared in his gym battle._

 _Slurpuff appeared on the battlefield and held her stubby arms on her hips with her nose sniffing the air proudly. "Slurpuff! (Parfume!)"_

 _Wulfric smiled. "So, your last Pokémon is a Slurpuff. You really keep me guessing you know._ _ **Avalugg use Gyro Ball!**_ _"_

 _"_ _ **Slurpuff strike first with Flamethrower!**_ _" Kai ordered._

 _Before Avalugg could even begin to move, Slurpuff completely out sped him engulfing Avalugg in flames taking Wulfric and his partner by surprise. When the flames disappeared Avalugg lay flat, covered in black marks knocked out._

 _The referee raised his hand closest to Kai (his left). "Avalugg is unable to battle! Slurpuff is the winner!"_

 _"_ _And that's how it's done! One turn, one knockout!" Kai declared proudly._

 _"_ _Slur Slurpuff Slurpuff Slur. (My parfume never doubted it.) Slurpuff proudly responded._

 _Wulfric pulled out a Poké ball returning Avalugg. "I must say, that move really took me by surprise."_

 _Kai smiled proudly. "That's the reason I brought her out. Normally defensive Pokémon have a chink in their armor. Since he took the physical blows from Talonflame, and showed no signs of fatigue early on, it had to be a low special defense." Kai shrugged his shoulders. "In hindsight I should have returned Talonflame and brought her in earlier but eh, live and learn."_

 _"_ _You should know that Avalugg was my strongest Pokémon, some trainers haven't even been able to defeat it, so no matter what happens next you should be proud." Wulfric pulled out his final Poké ball. "But as a gym leader, it's my job to keep going until the very end. Go Cryogonal!"_

 _Wulfric's last Pokémon resembled a shiny, blue hexagonal snowflake levitating off the ground. Its facial expression was frozen, leaving it with a still, aggressive-looking face. Two cracks ran through its face, the upper opening contained its eyes and the lower served as a mouth. It had two glowing eyes and its large mouth contains an extendable chain of ice._

 _"_ _Cryogonal. A fast Pokémon that has good special defense and special attack." Kai stated nervously realizing the disadvantage he was at. "Greeeat."_

 _"_ _Let the battle resume!" The referee announced._

 _"_ _ **Cryogonal lets start this final fight with Confuse Ray!**_ _" Wulfric_ _ordered_ _._

 _Cryogonal generated a series of multi-coloured glowing orbs_ _which it slowly threw at Slurpuff surrounding her before flashing into her making her wobble._

 _"_ _Slur… Puff… (Dizzy… Fume…)"_

 _"_ _ **Slurpuff snap out of it and use Flamethrower!**_ _" Kai commanded. Slurpuff got ready to attack when she slipped on the ice falling on her back hurting herself. "Oh no! The ice's slipperiness makes it easier for Slurpuff to hurt herself in confusion."_

 _"_ _Remember this?_ _ **Cryogonal use Hail!**_ _" Wulfric ordered._

 _Cryogonal opened its mouth moaning, generating thick clouds above the battlefield that began hailing._

 _"_ _Oh great, this is back! Lovely!" Kai sarcastically remarked. "_ _ **Slurpuff use Flamethrower!**_ _" Slurpuff got ready to attack when she slipped on the ice again, landing on her front hurting herself. Before hail landed on her to add insult to injury. "Not again."_

 _"_ _Kai, this has been an incredibly passionate battle, but I'm afraid it's over." Wulfric stated. "_ _ **Cryogonal use Flash Cannon!**_ _"_

 _"_ _Flash what?!" Kai yelled in surprise. Cryogonal's jaw lowered and began generating a bright silver light. Kai looked on panicked. "Come on Slurpuff snap out of it!"_

 _Slurpuff slowly got up and began wobbling, making Kai watch anxiously._

 _'_ _This isn't any good. Even if Slurpuff wasn't confused there's no way she could dodge that attack. Even if she wasn't sliding on the- that's it!' Kai thought getting a brain wave._

 _"_ _Slurpuff, slide over the ice to avoid the attack!"_

 _Wulfric raised a brow and Slurpuff was able to understand, it wasn't a move command so she understood what to do, gaining as much momentum as she could before sliding on her front like an Empoleon. Cryogonal fired a silver laser from its mouth that Slurpuff was just able to keep ahead of._

 _"_ _ **Now use Flamethrower!**_ _"_

 _"_ _Slur… Slur…_ _ **Slurpuff!**_ _(Flame… Flame…_ _ **Flame Parfume!**_ _)" Slurpuff cried as she executed her attack despite her confusion. The stream of flames made her slide back even more as the attack connected making Cryogonal cry out._

 _"_ _That's it! Keep it up!" Kai applauded._

 _"_ _Slur- Pu! (Par- Ow!)" Slurpuff was interrupted when a chunk of hail landed on her head._

 _"_ _CRYOGONAL!" Cryogonal yelled. Kai looked in surprise to see it engulfed in flames before returning to normal, with small flames covering its body._

 _"_ _A burn?!" Wulfric realised._

 _"_ _Guess you're not the only one who can cause damage over time huh?" Kai mocked._

 _Wulfric looked at Kai and Slurpuff proudly. "I think it's time we finish this you know."_

 _"_ _I couldn't agree more." Kai replied, the two of them smiling._

 _"_ _ **Cryogonal use Flash Cannon!**_ _" "_ _ **Slurpuff use Flamethrower!**_ _"_

 _Slurpuff snapped out of confusion and the two Pokémon executed their final attacks. The streams of silver and fire flew past each other side by side, before landing against their target, causing two explosions where the Pokémon stood._

 _Kai gulped and Wulfric stared unfazed. When the smoke and vapour cleared it showed Slurpuff and Cryogonal still standing (or floating) while heavily injured._

 _"_ _Slur… Puff…"_

 _"_ _Cry… Ogonal…"_

 _The two Pokémon panted unmoving when hail fell from the sky smashing against Slurpuff's head. She wobbled before falling face first onto the ice. Immediately after, Cryogonal suffered from its burn getting cloaked in fire before falling out of the sky onto its back knocked out. The referee looked at the two Pokémon and raised both his hands._

 _"_ _Both Pokémon are unable to battle! This battle and the match is a draw!" The referee then turned to Wulfric lowering his hand furthest away from him. "However since this a gym battle, in the event of a draw the victory goes to-!"_

 _"_ _Now hold on a second!" Wulfric interrupted catching Kai and the referee off guard. "Why don't you take another look?" Wulfric pointed at the battlefield making the referee look at the Pokémon again. He gasped when he saw that Slurpuff was shakily getting herself up and standing._

 _"_ _Slur Slurpuff Slurpuff Slurpuff Slur. (My parfume has not dispersed yet.)" She stated proudly._

 _Kai stood there with his mouth wide open. "Slurpuff…"_

 _The referee turned and raised his hand closest to Kai. "Slurpuff is still able to battle which means-!"_

 _The screen behind him showed Wulfric with two blacked out Poké ball silhouettes and a silhouette of Cryogonal. While Kai had two blacked out Poké ball silhouettes and a clear image of Slurpuff. The screens image changed to just show Kai's portrait as well as images of: Noivern, Talonflame and Slurpuff under the word 'WINNER'._

 _"_ _The challenger is the winner!" The referee finished._

 _Kai fell to his knees in disbelief holding his heart. "We won… We actually won…" Slurpuff waddled to Kai and smiled proudly before Kai wrapped her in both his arms bringing her in close. "You're the best Slurpuff!"_

 _"_ _Slur Slurpuff puff Slurpuff. (My parfume is pleased.)" Slurpuff commented, before Kai realised how close she was and quickly let her go, taking a step back awkwardly._

 _Wulfric returned Cryogonal and walked over to Kai. "_ _Impressive! Your Pokémon fought with great courage. I can tell that you've trained your Pokémon well."_

 _Kai got up and placed Slurpuff down. "Thank you. It's means a lot to hear that." Wulfric held the Iceberg Badge in his hand and gave it to Kai._

 _"_ _What you have right there is called the Iceberg Badge! As long as you have that, any and all of your Pokémon will surely look up to you and do their absolute best in battle." Wulfric explained and Kai nodded._ _"_ _You know what? You have all the Gym Badges now, so there's really only one thing left to do... It's time you headed off to the Pokémon League! Listen up, now... Trust in your Pokémon, and there's no limit to what you can achieve!"_

 _Kai looked at Slurpuff and the two of them nodded in understanding._

* * *

"And that was how I got the Iceberg Badge." Kai concluded.

"It was kind of long wasn't it?" Nora commented.

"Well at least it was better than your story!" Talonflame berated.

"I don't know, your story was kind of predictable."

Talonflame growled but Lucario got in the way. "Let it go Talonflame, personally I found Blake's story to be the most interesting."

"You did?" Blake asked.

"Yes. There was suspense, action, conflict-"

"And explosions!" Greninja added.

"Yes Greninja, ' _and explosions_ '."

"What?! We missed that one!" Nora moaned. "Tell it again!"

"I'd rather not." Blake replied sheepishly.

"Come on!"

"If she doesn't want to speak again. We should respect her wishes, it was our fault anyway for not arriving on time." Ren explained.

"Speaking of!" Kai abruptly said getting up. "Now that the refreshments are ready and everyone's here I think we can get started."

"I thought we already had." Blake said.

"Yeah telling stories was fun!" Nora commented.

"And it helped get us to know each other a little better." Ren added.

"… Huh? Never thought of it that way." Kai contemplated. "This wasn't on the plan though…"

"Enough with the plans! Let's just improvise!" Greninja declared.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you were more flexible Master." Lucario added.

"…Okay. What do you have in mind?" Kai asked.

Greninja pulled out the remote and turned on the TV.

" **Wheel of Fortune!** "

"Ooh! I love this show!" Nora cheered.

Kai chuckled to himself. "Sure, why not."

Kai sat down with his team and his friends, huddled around refreshments and the TV, spending the night enjoying their company.

* * *

 **So how was that? The main point of this chapter was to experiment writing individual stories from a characters perspective. This way in the future I could appeal to people who liked seeing characters on their own. I think I was able to achieve this for Kai, and Blake's was okay but I honestly think Ren and Nora's needed some more polish and depth. Still that's just what I think.**

 **That said the next chapter will be the finale to the 'End of semester arc'. I hope that I've entertained you up til' this point.**

 **Until next week this is Kallerston signing out!**


	25. Chapter 24: No rest for the weary

**Hello folks. There's some important information about the story at the end of this chapter. But first we have a question.**

 **Greatness123: Simply put, moderation. If I post all of the chapters at once, or as soon as I'm done with them then you'll have to go long gaps without getting anything. And I don't want to do that.**

* * *

 **Midday, Beacon Academy-**

It had been a few days since the end of semester holidays. Kai was busy on the Main Avenue practicing his recently mended gauntlets.

"Clear!" Kai announced before firing burning lasers from both his gauntlets at pre-made wooden targets. The targets were destroyed instantly, burning up in fire as Kai admired his handiwork. "It took two hours to make those, and they got destroyed in seconds."

"An excellent shot Sire!" Aegislash complemented from behind him. "You are steadily improving in posture and efficiency. Though your left foot is still too far out and your shoulders should remain level at all times, not just when you're aiming."

"Thanks for that." Kai replied as he turned the globe on his gauntlet, making it glow light blue before turning it again, turning it grey. Then blue, then grey, blue, grey, blue, grey-"

"Sire, the fire is still burning. And appears to be spreading." Aegislash reminded.

"Right! Should probably put that out!" Kai frantically aimed his grey glowing gauntlet and generated a gust of wind that effectively blew the flames out. "So, wind Dust can't become a laser. Interesting."

"Sire, you must be more careful of your surroundings." Aegislash warned cautiously. "If I may have permission to speak, may I inquire what distracted you."

"Sure, I was just trying to mix the dust." Kai answered. "Currently my gauntlet has different Dust chambers which I can swap between freely. But I was hoping to potentially mix and match some of them. In this case ice and wind to create some sort of fire extinguisher like vapour."

"I see." Aegislash murmured. "May I give you my honest opinion Sire?"

"Don't you always?"

"I believe that for the time being you should master what you have now instead of improving it further."

"Any reason why?"

"Sire… A knight in training cannot expect to learn even the basic fundamentals of swordsmanship, if they cannot even swing a sword correctly. While your enthusiasm for self-improvement is an admirable trait, if you focus too far ahead you may forget what is around you. A good example being when in combat against Lady Pyrrha you used your gauntlets laser without fully knowing how they worked resulting in your defeat. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll just stick with the Dust I've got at the moment. Now then-" Kai raised his gauntlets towards Aegislash. "Shall we begin the melee combat part of my training?"

Aegislash hovered closer to Kai and bowed. "It is an honour that I may spar against you Sire. Though know I won't hold back."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Kai responded.

Kai quickly shot his right fist forward at Aegislash, before jerking his hand swatting it down. Bashing her shield like an Iron Tail.

"Impressive Sire I expected no less. You have managed to get past my Ghost typing, though that will not let you secure victory. **Iron Head!** "

Aegislash went into Blade Forme, charging at Kai with Iron Head. Kai's eyes began to glow and he quickly darted to the left to dodge. Kai pulled pack his right fist and turned the dome on his left gantlet so that it glowed orange.

" **Burning laser!** " Kai declared, shooting the orange beam.

" **King's Shield!** " Aegislash cried out. She entered her Shield Forme, and projected a hexagon filled barrier to block the attack.

Kai stood defensively waiting for Aegislash to attack. "Blocking an attack in Shield Forme, attacking with Blade Forme, and then using King's Shield to swap back. Classic Aegislash strategy, I honestly expected more."

"And now you wait for me to attack, exposing myself for a swift victory." Aegislash summarised. "I am familiar with the strategy."

"So, who's gonna abuse it first?"

Kai and Aegislash stood in a stalemate, each one waiting for the other to make a move. Kai sighed, then ran straight at Aegislash.

" **King's Shield!** " She declared managing to generate her barrier. "Weren't expecting that, were you Sire?"

"Actually." Kai jumped behind Aegislash and started generating large amounts of heat from his gauntlets, without releasing it. "Charging my attack…" Aegislash gasped, when her King's Shield finished its duration, Kai raised both of his gauntlets at Aegislash opening the shutters. " **Makeshift Overheat!** " A spiral of flames erupted from the gauntlets surrounding the area around them. Aegislash was forced away, her body covered in scorch marks.

"Impressive Sire… I conceive." Aegislash admitted bowing.

The flames stopped and Kai looked down at his gauntlets, the shutters were burnt and smoking like last time, but the domes weren't cracked.

"Well that's better than last time." Kai murmured.

Aegislash hovered over to him. "It has been an honour to be your opponent, but how did you-?"

"You lurch slightly forwards when you're about to use King Shield. It's your tell."

"My tell. Well unlike Greninja, I will take that information to heart and improve from it. Thank you Sire."

"No problem." Kai exhaled feeling worn out, as he felt sweat beginning to drip down his head. "I think that's enough training for now, let's head back and take a break."

"As you command, Sire."

* * *

 _ **September 7th**_

 _ **My research into the Canalave library has been… Eye opening. According to these texts there are legendary Pokémon of time and space, but also one that rules over them, rules over all… Arceus. Assuming that both Remnant and Earth exist in the same universe, then that would mean a Pokémon created our entire world, a sobering thought. Supposedly these Pokémon reside in a mythical temple known as Spear Pillar, located on top of Mt Coronet. The journey may be difficult, and there is a good chance I may fail, but knowing that beings of such power are within my grasp, my determination has been reignited. I hope to leave soon, though I must confess I might be having doubts. Recently I have been suffering terrible nightmares, I cannot remember much; just a dark figure chasing me and my worst fears coming to life. Was it a Grimm? No matter, I must push these thoughts aside to continue my journey home.**_

Aegislash floated alone in Kai's room fully healed, reading the passage that Kai had just finished. She hummed to herself, as a knocking was heard at the door. Aegislash went away from the book and headed over to the door opening it.

"Lady Blake, what brings you over to our humble abode?" Aegislash greeted as Blake shyly stood outside the door.

"Is Kai here?" Blake asked.

"I'm afraid that you have just missed him milady. Myself and Sire were training earlier, and after coping to my injuries he thought it wise to take a shower. Would you like me to pass over a message?"

"Yeah, just tell him that me, Ren and Nora will be at the side of the school training together."

"Very well, I shall inform him at his earliest convenience."

"Thanks." Blake was about to close the door when Aegislash stopped it and opened it again.

"Lady Blake, while I have your attention. May I have permission to speak with you, for a moment."

"Um… Sure." Blake replied cautiously.

"After hearing of your story several nights ago, I have been thinking over it and I think I have the answer."

"The answer to what?"

"To whether you've been punishing yourself or not. Would you like to know the answer?"

"Oh that…" Blake paused and thought for a moment. "…Okay tell me."

"Very well. The answer… Is both yes and no."

Blake gave Aegislash a confused look. "Yes and no?"

"Indeed. As you revealed in your tale, you decided to seek justice away from the White Fang after you disagreed with their methods. However, I believe the reason that you feel as strongly as you do about seeking out justice is partially due to your background as an oppressed Faunus… And partially due to the guilt you felt from your actions making you seek redemption through helping others and righting wrongs. A community service if you will."

"Oh, I see." Blake replied quietly.

"Are you quite alright Lady Blake. You seem disheartened by my report."

"It's nothing." Blake responded closing the door leaving.

Aegislash looked down in thought. "Have I made a mistake?" She whispered.

* * *

 **Sometime later…**

At the side of the school premises, Nora was enthusiastically cheering as Ren and Blake fought.

"Come on Ren! Prove you're the better ninja!" Nora encouraged.

Ren brought his blades down, getting blocked by Blake's sword and sheath. Ren pulled his blades up turning to the side and thrust kicking Blake, a shadow clone took the hit letting Blake move back before she started grabbing the ribbon on her sword, using it like a chain-scythe. She swiped at Ren, causing him to backflip backwards, then quickly step back consecutively to avoid Blake's swings. Ren aimed his guns at Blake and began opening fire, Blake pulled her chain-scythe bringing it back to her while using her sheath to ricochet the bullets away from her. She raised and lowered her sheath rapidly in front of her, while rotating in place to keep going forward towards Ren. Ren went aggressive running at Blake while continuously firing, making her stop in place and deflect the bullets with both her sword and sheath. Ren charged at Blake putting his palms together thrusting them at her only to hit a clone, Blake jumped of the clone into the air before jumping off another one to dive kick Ren pinning him on the ground, raising her weapon against his throat just to be sure.

Ren sighed. "I give."

Blake got off him and smiled offering her hand to pull him up.

"Aw, you almost had her." Nora moaned.

"Almost being the operative word." Ren stated. "It was a good fight."

Blake looked away spacing out. "I hear something." She murmured, staring around the building. She walked slightly to the left to get a better view and saw Kai and his team walking towards them. "Never mind, it's just Kai."

"Were you expecting someone else?" Kai asked.

"No, we just want to keep this private."

"So, what'd we miss?" Greninja asked insistently.

"The two ninjas over there just fought." Nora answered.

"And you didn't include me." Greninja overdramatically responded.

"In all honesty we've only just started." Ren stated.

"Perfect! Means there's plenty of time for me to beat you into the dirt!" Talonflame shouted.

"Let the parfume's of war be unleashed!" Slurpuff cried out.

"That's a little extreme guys. Might want to turn it down a bit." Kai critiqued.

"So, who should fight next?" Ren asked.

"Me!" Greninja and Talonflame said in unison causing them to look at each other.

"Watch it you pyro. Let me have this and I won't hose you down like last time." Greninja threatened.

"You got lucky that time you wet blanket. This time I won't go easy on you." Talonflame retaliated.

"Oh really?"

"Really!"

"REALLY?!"

"REALLY!"

"Do you two always have to fight?" Noivern nervously interrupted.

"YES!" The two shouted back.

"Well you can't because I called dibs!" Nora cheerfully stated.

"DIBS! THIS IS ABOUT MORE THAN DIBS! THIS IS ABOUT PRIDE! STRENGTH! AND-!" Talonflame shouted angrily.

"But I called dibs."

"BUT-!"

"Dibs."

"I might have a solution that might make everyone happy." Kai began to say. "What if we have a multi-battle."

"A multi-battle?" Blake repeated.

"Where I'm from a multi-battle is where four trainers in teams of two fight together with their Pokémon. But we're gonna put a twist on it, i.e. two vs two and everyone also gets to use one of my Pokémon as a partner if they're okay with that."

"Can me and Talonflame be on two opposing teams?" Greninja asked.

"I don't see why not."

"Why have we not done this sooner?"

"If I may be so bold Sire. I would appreciate it, if you would let me fight with Lady Blake." Aegislash asked.

"Why me?" Blake asked.

"I fear that things may have become tense between us, I hope to remedy that by having us fight together."

"Things aren't tense between us."

"Splendid, then there should be no issues when fighting together."

"Greaaat." Blake exaggerated.

"Are you tired Lady Blake? You seemed to be yawning just now." Aegislash said, making Blake sigh.

Greninja walked close to Kai. "All right buddy, let's show these guys a thing or two."

"Hold on a minute!" Talonflame intervened. "Why do you get to go with Kai?"

"Because I'm his partner Pokémon. His starter, his first, his ace in the hole!"

"He officially got us both on the same day, and I'm the better battler!"

"That's debatable."

"Guys!" Kai intervened. "I kind of… Already had an offer."

"FROM WHO?!" The two brothers shouted. The sniffed the air and looked down at Kai's feet to see Slurpuff giggling. "OF COURSE!" The two of them exasperated, before looking behind them at Ren and Nora.

"I'll take the ninja." Greninja unenthusiastically stated.

"And I'll take the hyper hammer girl." Talonflame unenthusiastically responded.

"I don't mind sitting this one out." Lucario stated.

"Me too, I don't feel comfortable fighting friends and family." Noivern added.

"Great, now we just need to organise the teams." Kai explained.

"Me and Ren fought just now. So, this time we should work together." Blake summarised.

"Very well, I hope we perform adequately." Ren hoped.

"Guess that leaves me with Nora." Kai assumed.

"This is gonna be fun!" Nora cheerfully giggled.

The two partners and their respective Pokémon grouped up and spread out, ensuring there was a large space in-between the two teams of four.

"All right, the winner is the last member standing. A member is taken out if they surrender or have their aura reach critical levels, or for Pokémon if you get knocked out." Kai declared.

"This is kinda funny." Noivern said.

"And why's that?" Lucario asked.

"I know that our brothers and sisters are fighting as well. But we are Pokémon about to watch humans fight." Noivern noticed.

Lucario began laughing to himself once he understood. "Yes. I suppose that is quite humorous."

"Is everyone ready?" Kai asked, flexing the fingers on his gauntlets and twisting the glass domes so that they both glowed yellow. Everyone else stayed silent and nodded, preparing to strike. " **Then let's go!** "

" **Water Shuriken!** " Greninja ran ahead of his team and grabbed two blobs of water from the stars on his feet before applying pressure and throwing two shurikens at Talonflame pushing him back.

" **Acrobatics!** " Talonflame accelerated instantly charging at Greninja, hitting him in the front before repeatedly striking him from the sides pushing him back.

"Is that all you've got?" Greninja taunted raising his front foot and pulling his toes back and forth signalling 'Come at me bro!'

"I'm not even close to getting fired up!" Talonflame angrily responded.

"Then bring it!"

Before the two Pokémon could continue a loud explosion was heard, before Nora flew above their heads riding her smoking hammer.

"Cannonball!" She cried as she flew straight for Ren. Naturally Ren saw her coming (it's pretty hard to miss a screaming girl riding a rocket hammer) and jumped back as she landed fracturing the ground. Nora quickly recovered, eying Ren down. "You know, it's crazy how this is the first time we're really fighting each other." Nora ran forward swinging her hammer forcing Ren to go on the defensive, either dodging or using his blades to push the swings away. "I mean I don't mean fight in general. We have argued, we've debated- are they the same thing? Probably. Either way-" Nora brought her hammer up and swung it down forcing Ren to crouch and block the blunt end of the hammer with his blades in an 'X' position.

"Nora…" Ren painfully interrupted. "Maybe you should be focusing more on the fight right now."

" **Slurpuff use Energy Ball!** " Kai commanded.

Slurpuff put her stubby arms together generating a ball of life energy. She threw it at Ren, stuck between a rock and a hard place, Ren chose to get hit by the Energy Ball sending him away.

"Why'd you do that? I had him." Nora moaned.

"Not from where I was-" Kai was blind sighted by Blake who slashed at him with her sheathed sword. The strike shocked Kai activating his semblance letting him sense Aegislash coming from behind with Slash. Kai crouched his legs and back flipped over Aegislash's sweeping attack, landing behind her. "Did I just do a backflip?! Woo! This spatial awareness thing is pretty good, I didn't even think about it!"

"Focus on your guard Sire or you let the enemy in!" Aegislash suggested. " **Shadow Sneak!** " Aegislash submerged into the ground and squirmed under Kai. Kai leapt forward, only for Aegislash to strike first, knocking him upwards with a shadowy blade.

Kai regained focus and aimed his gauntlet at the ground. " **Shocking Laser!** " Kai fired a yellow laser with sparks of electricity seeping out of it. It crashed onto Aegislash making a sound like thunder, making her face the ground.

"Lady Blake!" Aegislash cried out, and Blake jumped from a clone into the air towards Kai.

His perception let him process the situation and he scowled. _'Darn it! I can't dodge in mid-air! This is gonna suck.'_

Blake slammed Kai in the chest with her sheathed weapon making him wheeze, as he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Excellent form Lady Blake." Aegislash complemented.

"Be careful, we've only just started." Blake warned.

" **Dazzling Parfume!** " Slurpuff cried out from the distance. Blake, Aegislash, Ren and Greninja immediately focused their attention on her when she generated a bright flash of pink light. Aegislash while she had low defences wasn't fazed too badly. The others however were all sent skidding back.

Ren raised his blades. "We need to take her out first!"

"Right. Can I finish up with Talonflame or…" Greninja murmured.

"Greninja! Put your foolish rivalry aside!" Aegislash commanded. Slurpuff is our greatest source of conflict, and we must strike her down before she can use-"

"Well since you're taking your time this turn: **Slurpuff use Cotton Guard!** " Kai ordered.

Slurpuff surrounded herself in white fluffy balls of cotton before expelling them violently, generating an orange aura.

"… You were going to say Cotton Guard weren't you?" Greninja bluntly asked.

"Unfortunately I was Greninja." Aegislash bleakly responded.

"What's so bad about cotton?" Blake asked.

"Why don't I explain?" Kai started to say as Nora grouped up with him, Talonflame mysteriously absent. "I'm sure you've noticed, that occasionally when using a move, my Pokémon glow orange, that's them getting a stat buff."

"A stat buff?" Ren repeated confused.

"It's basically a temporary buff to one of their… Let's say physical attributes: attack, defence, speed, so on and so forth. But Cotton Guard is a move specifically designed to raise a Pokémon's stat, and oh boy does it!"

"Cotton Guard drastically raises Slurpuff's defence by three stages." Aegislash interrupted.

"That doesn't sound so bad." Blake confessed.

Aegislash sighed. "A foolish statement Lady Blake, but one you made without knowing."

"Huh?"

"For reference a single stat boost is still a reasonably game changing amount, Slurpuff got three boosts at once and the maximum is six." Kai finished explaining.

"… That may be a problem." Ren whispered.

Slurpuff giggled. "My defensive parfume is so great even Poison and Steel type parfumes are unable to break through my parfumes scent. Now it is time for my parfume to-!" Slurpuff was interrupted by a sudden blast of hot water, sending her flying.

"Except that your Special Defence is still lacklustre." Greninja bluntly interrupted. "Don't worry guys, just leave this to-"

Greninja was suddenly taken down by a blue blur colliding with him making dust rise. Greninja coughed and got up to see Talonflame flying where he once stood.

"DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD LET YOU JUST DITCH OUR BATTLE!" Talonflame angrily shouted.

"Well this is chaos." Kai deadpanned.

"I know right!" Nora responded enthusiastically lifting up her hammer. "Come on! Let's spread this chaos!"

Kai shrugged before aiming his gauntlets. "All right."

* * *

Meanwhile at a safe distance, Noivern and Lucario were continuing to watch the fight.

"This is getting intense." Noivern murmured.

"I suppose, though I doubt they're even close to fighting at their own strength." Lucario stated. "But when they do, I'm sure this will get interesting."

"Yeah, that's great." Noivern whispered vaguely, his head turning all over the place.

"Is something the matter Noivern? You seem distracted." Lucario asked.

"There's this odd whooshing sound. Like a strong wind or a plane."

"Strange, I haven't noticed anything like that before."

"Me either, it's freaking me out." Noivern sharply turned his head nervously, and Lucario sighed.

"Perhaps we should find the source of this sound. Will that calm you down?"

"Really! You'd do that?! But what about the fight?"

"I suppose it is only practice. I don't think they'll mind us leaving… Or even notice."

Lucario and Noivern proceeded to head off as the fight continued.

* * *

" **Makeshift…** " Kai ran at Greninja with both of his gauntlets covered in electricity. " **Thunder Punch!** " Kai threw a right punch which Greninja dodged by jumping to Kai's left.

" **Aerial Ace!** " Greninja's lower feet glowed light blue, he lunged at Kai kicking him in the gut before following up with an upward kick with his other foot knocking Kai backwards in the air. However, Kai's perception let him land on his feet. "So, how's your power to dodge any attack going against a move that can't be dodged."

"Pretty good. How's the Dark type frog, doing against the Fairy type standing right behind them."

Greninja went to speak when he realised what Kai said and darted his head behind him, to see nothing there. "Wait? She isn't-"

" **Thunder Punch!** "

"… Clever girl…" Greninja whispered as he was blind sighted by a super effective punch to the face knocking him away.

Greninja's body flew as a blur flying past Blake and Talonflame.

" **Flame Charge!** " Talonflame shouted, as he flew right at Blake. Blake let a clone take the hit and used the chance to jump away, she pulled out her gun and filled it with a Dust cartridge before firing blue electric shots at Talonflame, making him wince. " **Flame Charge!** " Talonflame shouted as he flew at Blake even faster than before striking her in the chest before she could dodge.

"Why didn't the electric shots take you down? Kai said Flying types are weak to electricity." Blake asked.

"It doesn't matter if they're super effective, those pot shots are weak! Besides- I'VE BEEN THROUGH WORSE SHOCKS! **Steel Wing!** " Talonflame flew at Blake with metallic wings, he slammed her only to hit her shadow clone, before spinning in place back handing (or winging) Blake knocking her onto the ground. "STOP DODGING AND LETTING YOUR COPIES TAKE THE HIT! **FACE ME!** "

Blake got herself up and brought out her sword and sheath as several pink explosions went off in the distance.

Nora was hunched over smiling with her rocket launcher, as the smoke slowly faded away revealing Aegislash floating in Blade Forme unharmed.

"Lady Nora, I didn't think I would have to repeat myself so many times. However, I am compelled to remind you in the spirit of fairness that my ghost typing prevents your explosives from harming-!" Aegislash was interrupted by another round of explosives phasing through her.

"Any second now. Aaany second." Nora chanted.

"FOR GOODNESS SAKE!" Aegislash finally snapped. She became fully metallic and her cross-guard widened into a circle. " **Iron Head!** " Aegislash charged forward slamming head first into Nora barely making her budge due to her armours Steel type properties.

"Ha ha ha! You fell right into my trap!" Nora cried out raising her hammer.

 _'_ _No, not again!'_ Aegislash thought. _'Why must I always charge in so reckless like a foo-'_

Nora slammed her hammer down… Phasing through Aegislash like a Normal type move.

"Huh, well that should have worked." Nora deadpanned.

Aegislash sighed and closed her eye. "I should be grateful, but I am still burdened by my sheer incompetence from charging in. Curse my poor defences as a blade and curse my foolishness."

"… Are you okay there? You're kinda gloomy." Nora noticed.

"I apologise for not being more enthusiastic about our duel Lady Nora, but my mind has been plagued with doubts this day, and these rash actions of mine are not helping." Aegislash explained.

"So, don't think about it."

"But if I don't think about, then how will I improve?"

"Will moping help you improve?"

"On its own no, but-"

"Then don't think about it!" Nora cheerfully cut off as she threw her hammer in the air, letting it fall with all it's weight landing on Aegislash's head with the properties of a Steel type move. While it didn't do much damage, it did make Aegislash rub the top of her grip (or pommel? You try describing parts of a sword in relation to the human body).

 _'_ _Self-improvement without dwelling on one's failures.'_ Aegislash realised.

" **Dazzling Parfume!** "

Before Aegislash could react, a bright pink light blinded her, dealing minimal damage as Slurpuff giggled in the distance.

"Ah, my sweet Dazzling Parfume has delivered its beautiful fragrance to you all." She said proudly before sniffing the air. "Ah, Samurai parfume I've been expecting you."

Ren's guns clicked from behind Slurpuff as she turned around to see him panting and aiming the guns at her. "You are surprisingly formidable for your size."

Ren pulled the triggers, his guns shot a spread of bullets at Slurpuff who just stood there unfazed, her high defences letting her absorb the blows relatively hassle free. Realising he wasn't doing anything substantial Ren charged at Slurpuff furiously cutting her, again not doing much.

"Your speed parfume is fragrant and your physical attacks are satisfactory. What a nice parfume, but against my defensive parfume, it won't be enough." Slurpuff critiqued. Slurpuff raised her arms making Ren shield himself with his arms. " **Cotton Parfume!** "

Slurpuff used Cotton Guard again maxing her defences as Ren brought his blades down against Slurpuff, doing almost nothing. "I need backup!" Ren cried out desperately.

* * *

Meanwhile on the Main Avenue just in front of the Huntsman statue; Noivern walked slowly on his feet with his ears tilted in the air like a satellite dish picking up radar. Lucario walked by his side at a relaxed pace.

"Do you have any ideas what that sound was?" Lucario asked.

"Not really." Noivern replied. "It stopped, then it started again, and then it got quieter. It's like it went away after stopping here."

"Interesting." Lucario placed his chin on his paw in thought reminiscent of his trainer. "Perhaps it was an airship dropping off supplies."

"Why would an airship come here when everybody's le-" Noivern froze sharply turning his head and his ears along the long path from the air dock. "Someone's coming! They're close."

Lucario quickly raised his paw and aura appendages, closing his eyes to sense aura. "Hmm… Of course, it would be them." Lucario stopped sensing aura and turned to Noivern.

"Who?" Noivern asked. Several figures soon got closer and became clear, making Noivern go wide eyed and gape. "… Oh."

* * *

A flailing metal fist flew through the air, narrowly getting avoided by Blake. A second one quickly followed striking one of her clones, letting her get some distance.

"You don't make this easy, do ya Blake?" Kai remarked as he continuously swung his gauntlets. Kai swung one fist under Blake's feet making her jump into the air, and Kai swung the second fist at her blind spot. Before Blake could dodge, Aegislash appeared out of nowhere blocking the attack with King's Shield bouncing the gauntlet away. Blake landed on her feet and Aegislash hovered by her as Kai recoiled his gauntlets.

"Thanks." Blake calmly said.

"My pleasure Lady Blake." Aegislash replied.

Kai whistled and Talonflame quickly flew down to his side.

"Where's Greninja?!" Talonflame demanded. Kai gestured to the wall which Greninja was slumped against knocked out. "WHAT?! WHO BEAT HIM?!"

"I may have overdone it with the electric dust." Kai admitted.

Talonflame looked mad, then started to laugh. "About time you knocked some sense into him. How did it feel?"

"Satisfying."

"Sire, Talonflame. Need I remind you that we are combatants." Aegislash interrupted.

"Sure, go ahead." Kai replied uninterested.

"Go ahead. Fight us." Talonflame added.

Blake narrowed her eyes. "They're planning something."

"I concur Lady Blake." Aegislash agreed. "Where is Lady Nora and Slurpuff?"

Ren flew at them landing flat on the ground battered and panting. Blake's scroll went off showing his aura was in the red.

"Four!" Nora cheered, holding her hammer over her shoulder like a golf club Slurpuff giggling beside her.

"An excellent parfume, Syrup parfume." She commented.

Blake and Aegislash looked to each other. "This may prove adversary." Aegislash admitted.

"That would be an understatement." Blake responded.

"Lady Blake… This may not be the time or place but I would like to offer my sincerest apologies."

"For what?"

"My over-analysis of your career choice."

Blake sighed. "Look I-"

"Let me speak!" Aegislash interrupted. "I was wrong. This is the path you wish to follow right?"

"Yeah I-"

"Then the reason doesn't matter, punishment or not! Just keep moving forward, and we'll find out together your resolve!"

"…"

"Hello! Are we fighting or what?!" Nora shouted.

"Yeah! I was fine waiting before- BUT THAT WAS WHEN I THOUGHT YOU'D ATTACK US AND LEAVE YOURSELF OPEN!" Talonflame angrily complained.

"Way to reveal the plan Talonflame. Real nice." Kai sarcastically stated.

Blake and Aegislash stared at their opponents in front of them.

"We're probably not going to win this are we?" Blake asked.

"Well in a Pokémon battle, we fight on 'till the bitter end!" Aegislash declared. "… Or unless the trainer surrenders, though mine is the one currently attacking us."

Blake held her sword and sheath in front of her defensively while Aegislash unsheathed herself ready to attack in her Blade Forme.

" **Shadow Sneak!** " Aegislash declared transforming into a shadow.

"Here she comes!" Kai warned his perception showing the shadows most likely path. "Nora! She's coming after you!"

"Not a problem!" Nora raised her hammer, before Aegislash blasted out of the ground. Nora endured and slammed to ground sending shockwaves that made the ground shake heading towards Aegislash.

"Not this time!" Aegislash declared jumping into the air to avoid the tremors. She turned her body and saw Talonflame flying at her with Flame Charge.

"LET'S SEE YOU CALL ME AN IDIOT AFTER THIS!" Talonflame cried. Aegislash braced herself as a black blur reached behind her. Talonflame charged at Aegislash… Only for Blake to take the hit before turning into shadows. "WHAT?!"

Talonflame looked confused then saw the ground seeing Aegislash with Blake by her side.

"My thanks Lady Blake, you're reaction speeds are quite remarkable. How did you know to take the hit?" Aegislash awed.

"I didn't, I just saw you and it just… Happened." Blake commented.

"Well that's enough of that." Kai interrupted turning the globe on his right gauntlet so that it glowed orange. " **Burning Laser!** "

" **Flame Parfume!** " Slurpuff cried and the two fire attacks charged straight at Blake and Aegislash.

Aegislash suddenly got in front of Blake. "Get behind me!"

"What are you doing?" Blake shouted.

"Trying to make something happen!"

The two attacks reached them and Aegislash braced herself. The attacks collided and obscured Blake and Aegislash in flames.

"That ought a do it." Nora commented. "Who's for snacks?"

Kai stopped firing his laser and awed. "No way…" Through his perception Kai could see Aegislash was avoiding the attacks by holding her shield out in front of her to block despite not being in Shield Forme.

"Lady Blake… Hurry and counter…" Aegislash said painfully.

Blake nodded and jumped into the air before jumping off one of her clones, spinning at Slurpuff. She dived at her slicing her numerous times before knocking her into the air with her sheath.

"Now!" Blake shouted. Talonflame flew at her with Flame Charge only to let her clone take the hit, giving her an escape.

Aegislash meanwhile angled herself upward at Slurpuff before moving further back. " **Iron Head!** " Aegislash leaped forward with a large amount of momentum and bashed Slurpuff in mid-air with a super effective attack sending her spiralling away.

"Slurpuuu-!" She moaned as she flew out of everyone's vision. Soon after a high-pitched scream was heard followed by a metallic thump.

"Good heavens." Aegislash said as she floated back down to the ground. "I know this is not customary, but given the circumstances-"

"Yeah, we can have a time out. We need to see if Slurpuff is all right." Kai finished.

"And it sounded like there was a girl screaming." Blake added.

The conscious group of five headed off (Talonflame grumbling along the way) and made it around the corner, gaining surprised expressions.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Talonflame grumbled.

"You guys are here!" Blake cried out surprised.

"Welcome to my world." Kai remarked.

In front of them was Noivern and Lucario along with: Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Pyrrha and a defeated Jaune on the ground who suffered the unfortunate fate of having a knocked out Slurpuff land on top of him.

"Slurp…" Slurpuff weakly moaned.

"Uuugh. Someone help." Jaune weakly pleaded.

"For goodness- JUST GET UP YOURSELF SHE'S NOT THAT HEAVY!" Talonflame berated.

"Why are you guys back here, I thought you weren't coming back for over a week." Blake asked.

"Well the funny thing is… Dad wasn't home." Ruby awkwardly answered.

"Yeah, turns out Signal called him in last minute to help look after some of the students that were staying in the school." Yang explained.

"He ended up having to take Zwei with him as well!" Ruby moaned, comedic tear streams coming from her eyes.

"And what about you Lady Weiss. Why would you wish to return?" Aegislash asked.

Weiss crossed her arms looked at Aegislash sourly. "Well if you must know, my sister wasn't able to make it home. She got called away on a mission, without her life at home is… Unideal."

"Hmph. Of course, the rich would comment on home life not being up to their standards."

"What did you say?!" Weiss shouted locking eyes with Aegislash.

"Oh no not again." Noivern quickly panicked.

"Perhaps we should move on to Mr Arc and Miss Nikos." Lucario suggested.

"My reason isn't all too special." Pyrrha admitted. "I just didn't like the publicity when I got back home. When a regional champion leaves to become a Huntress for a few months, it builds up a lot of anticipation for their return."

"And as for me- Well-" Jaune nervously laughed as he got up, Slurpuff falling off him. "It turns out that… My parents leant my room to my grandpa while I was here. And they didn't expect me coming back."

"Then tell the old geezer to leave! It's your room!" Talonflame cried out getting disapproving looks from everyone. "What?!"

"So, we decided to come back to Beacon early. We actually all met in Vale to get an airship here, it was so cool." Ruby exclaimed.

"So, what have you been up to? You look kinda rough." Yang noticed.

"Oh you know, the usual: had a sleepover, told some stories, just beat each other up. That same old routine." Nora answered.

"Shame, we missed it. Who won?"

"It was a tie Lady Yang." Aegislash said.

"NO IT WASN'T!" Talonflame argued. "WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO BEAT YOU!"

"Until myself and Lady Blake started rallying together to deliver a strategic comeback. Besides we were interrupted, it may be best just to call ourselves even."

"WELL WHY DON'T WE CARRY ON RIGHT NOW?! **Flame Char-!** " Talonflame was interrupted by Aegislash bashing her shield in Talonflame's face, stopping his momentum.

"Fool! A straight forward attack like that. You left yourself wide open."

"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!"

"How'd you do that sis?" Noivern asked.

Aegislash looked at her shield. "I honestly don't know. It just came to me, in hindsight using my shield to avoid attacks in Blade Forme seems oh so simple and obvious. It was foolish not realising it earlier."

"Better late than never." Kai responded. "So since you guys are here, how about we do something fun, take a break from the training."

"Sure, I know! Me and Yang just brought over this board game we play at home!" Ruby exclaimed.

"A board game. It has _bored_ in the title." Nora moaned.

"It is a strategic, and fun game for ages seven and up."

"Aren't you a little old to be playing that game?" Weiss remarked.

"And up!" Ruby repeated.

The group stood there together enjoying their reunion as the early summer breeze was beginning to blow, along with the winds of change.

* * *

 **And that is the end of the 'End of Semester arc' how was it? There are two things I want to talk about here: first Aegislash's new technique.**

 **I'm sure many people have seen Aegislash in Blade Forme and asked why they don't use their shields to defend themselves, however in Pokken Tournament DX, not only is it used to block but can also be used as a Parry to stop enemy attacks and build up burst meter. This was my inspiration for Aegislash and you'll be seeing this technique a lot in the future in regards to her fighting style.**

 **Second is about the next arc. The next arc is the 'Investigation arc' which will cover the first four episodes of Volume two. It will also be... The last arc for a while. I really hate to say this-**

 **(Don't you dare)**

 **But-**

 **(Don't say it!)**

 **After the next arc, this story will be going on... An indefinite hiatus.**

 **(NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) (You suck!) (Why do you toy with our emotions!) (Go to H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS!)**

 **Look calm down people. I know it sucks but let me be clear. This story is not cancelled. It's just that my writing drive has severely gotten less, I have been writing, but if I post everything now then there might be errors, and you'll be left unresolved and unsatisfied.**

 **I also have plans to keep fans entertained in the mean time but I'll reveal that later.**

 **Regardless I hope you enjoyed this arc, and will enjoy the next arc.**

 **So until then this is Kallerston signing out!**


	26. Chapter 25: New seacon, new threats

**-Midday, Beacon Academy-**

It had been over a week since Teams RWBY and JNPR were reunited, and the end of semester break was reaching its conclusion. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Team JNPR and Kai were dressed in their school uniform and eating lunch in the dining hall. With it being the last day, more people had arrived to return, including new transfer students for the tournament, making the hall as packed as ever. While many students were eating and socialising, Kai and Blake had their heads in books.

Blakes book was a notepad that contained handwritten notes and sketches. Some notable drawing were what looked like the upper-back of a man with a katana, and a rose.

Kai meanwhile was once again reading from 'The Findings of a New World.'

 _ **September 21st**_

 _ **It has been two weeks since I have written another passage and for good reason! My progress has once again been thwarted! This time as I traversed through Mt Coronet's dark caves I found my progress had been halted by a stone seal. I tried to find my way around it but it was too heavy, however this was no random boulder, this was placed intentionally. Three drawings were marked on the seal which I have learned belong to three legendary Pokémon hiding out in Sinnoh's three lakes. Uxie, Azelf and Mespirit, the Legendary Pokémon representing the human spirit. To learn more about these three I have decided to rest in the nearby city Celestic Town, perhaps I will find answers there to unblocking this seal. However, this has not been the worst news to happen to me. The nightmares have gotten worse and I don't know what to do. Each time I fall asleep I am trapped in my own darkest fears, unable to awake. And when I do I am weak, the stress of them taking their toll. I don't know what to do and I am afraid. My only hope is that these will pass, and I can return home to Remnant soon. By Arceus I hope so.**_

Kai read on slightly concerned. _'This better not end the way I think it's gonna end, or I'm gonna be stuck here. Wait that can't be how it ends, the book made it here, I just need to keep reading and soon I'll figure out-'_

"Whatcha doing?"

Kai's thoughts were interrupted by Yang's voice, he looked away to respond when he saw that she was talking to Blake.

"Nothing." Blake responded closing her book. "Just going over notes from last semester."

Yang faced straight ahead to catch a pea in her mouth before looking back at her teammate.

"Lame!" She responded.

Team WBY and Kai looked in front of them at Team JNPR, Nora in particular holding a spoon with a pile of peas in front of her. She flicked another one at Yang which she caught again giving Nora a thumbs up, as Ruby slammed a large binder on the table with a piece of paper taped on with red marker writing saying:

(Vytal Festival Activities Property of Weiss Schnee)

 **BEST DAY EVER** **ACTIVITIES** **!**

"Should I ask or-?" Kai started to say.

Ruby cleared her throat and dramatically raised her arms. "Sisters! Friends! Weiss…"

"Hey!" Weiss interrupted.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

"This ought to be good." Yang remarked before eating a red berry.

"Knowing Ruby, I give it a fifty-fifty chance. Give or take." Kai argued.

"A dream that one day, the four of us would come together, as a team and have the most fun anyone has ever had, ever!" Ruby continued.

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss accused.

"I am not a crook." Ruby argued with peace signs.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"I'm talking about kicking off this semester with a bang!"

"I always kick my semesters off with a Yang!" Yang punned killing the moment. "Ehh!? Guys? Am I right?"

Nora bounced a tomato off Yang's face. "Boooooooo!"

"That might have been the worst pun ever… Of all time." Kai groaned.

Yang looked at Nora and Kai annoyed. "Everyone's a critic."

"Look guys, it's been a good two weeks, and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year. Our second semester is gonna be great! But classes start back up tomorrow. Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today." Ruby concluded.

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store." Weiss stated.

"Probably both." Kai answered.

Yang got up throwing an apple at Nora's direction only for some guy in the background to yell 'Hey!'

"I don't know. I think I might sit this one out." Blake said.

"Sit out or not, I think however we spend this last day. We should do it as a team." Weiss suggested.

"I got it!" Nora yelled, Yang in the background trying to get her to stop.

"I for one think that-" Weiss got up, only to be interrupted by a pie to the face. Taking everyone by surprise and making Kai cautiously put his book away. Team JNPR looked disappointed or surprised aside from Nora who tried to pass the blame onto Ren.

 _'_ _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'_ Kai thought panicked. _'Or in simpler terms; oh shi-'_

* * *

Meanwhile outside, a returned Sun walked along the outside of the hall with a new boy. He had tan skin, and messy blue hair in an undercut. He wore a white dress shirt and a black tie underneath a red jacket with a black collar. He also wore grey jeans with black padding and had two notable accessories: fingerless gloves and a pair of yellow tinted goggles on his forehead.

"Man, that's harsh." The boy said to Sun.

"So, then we were fighting side by side and she was super fast and I threw a banana at a guy! Which sounds gross, but it was awesome!" Sun recalled.

"Nice!"

"And not only was she cool, but there was this dude who had control of these two weird animal things! But not weird weird! Cool weird! Talking, funny, really freaky powers, cool weird!"

"Cool!"

"And the best part is she's a Faunus! And the dude's an alien!" Sun clasped his mouth. "But they're secrets okay!"

"Got it."

"And not a I'm gonna go tell Scarlet the second Sun turns his back secrets! I'm talking secret secret!"

"Woah chill out man okay I got it. I got it."

"You better."

"Pfft."

"I just don't wanna screw this up, ya know? The people here are the coolest no offense to you guys." Sun explained to the boy, unaware to the sound of splatting and people screaming in the building next to them.

"None taken." The boy responded as Jaune faceplanted the window.

"Okay they're just in here. I'm really excited for you to meet them, so be cool okay? You're gonna be cool right?"

"Dude." The boy smiled confidently showing his teeth which sparkled with a ding.

Sun nodded his head. "Good point."

The two boys walked through the doors with gaping mouths to be met with two words.

"Food Fight!"

In an instant almost the entire hall was evacuated, standing at the end of the room on a mountain of tables was Nora, guarded by the rest of Team JNPR.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" Nora declared.

On the other side, Ruby and her team were preparing to attack. Ruby stamped the table making unfinished food and cutlery move, as she held a carton of milk in her hand.

"Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!" Ruby squeezed the carton making the drink shoot out. "It will be delicious!" Team RWBY raised their arms into the air cheering.

Meanwhile hidden behind a table-like bunker, Kai crouched witnessing hell around him.

"War… I had hoped this day would never come." Kai said dramatically. He went for his Poké ball belt and brought out: Greninja, Slurpuff and Lucario.

"Friends, I ain't gonna lie. There's a good chance none of us are gonna make it out of here alive." Kai began to dramatically speak.

"Are we really doing this?" Lucario asked before immediately getting shushed by his two teammates.

"My comrades I am not making you fight, but rather asking you. Some of us may not see the light of dawn ever again, or the sweet taste of peace on our lips. But our actions now will be remembered now 'til the end of time! Will we stand idly by while our sacred meal time is desecrated! Or will we stand and fight! For they may take our lunch! But they shall never take our free-!" The table fell forward revealing Kai and his team to the other armies, marking them as targets. Kai blinked twice. "Of course..."

"Protect the president!" Greninja cried diving at Kai, dragging him across the room.

"For the parfume!" Slurpuff cried out.

Lucario sighed, before smiling. "Our sandwiches… They will be avenged!"

"See, now you're getting it." Greninja complemented.

"Off with their heads!" Nora ordered, jumping off the tables behind a line of water melons. In their own ways Team JNPR launched an airstrike of melons at Team RWBY.

" **Yang! Turkey!** " Ruby declared. Yang leaped forward rolling her hands into two turkeys, wearing them like boxing gloves. She punched the birds together before delivering smashing punches obliterating any fruit (well technically vegetable) she made contact with into a fine red mist. Yang backflipped before charging forward making a path by destroying the round food. Blake flipped over her rolling forward picking up two baguettes to use as swords. The two partners eviscerated and smashed the fruit when a series of brown blurs rushed past them. The blurs swiftly assaulted Jaune, snapping as they did knocking him to the ground. Pyrrha looked ahead of her to see Greninja jump down on a table. In his webbed front feet were an arsenal of only the deadliest ninja weapons… Gingerbread men.

"Let's dance amigo." Greninja challenged. He ran forward throwing his gingerbread like shuriken, Pyrrha quickly picked up a baguette and started charging forward using it to smash the incoming projectiles. Greninja threw three in a spread only for Pyrrha to roll underneath, he went to throw another round when he noticed he had ran out of ammo. "… Would you care to surrender?" Pyrrha declined (non-verbally) charging at him with a baguette raised.

"Greninja!" Kai called out from behind him holding his own baguette in his hand. "Catch!" Kai threw the breadstick and Greninja backflipped catching it in mid-air. He held it in between his front feet and unsheathed it as he fell, clashing blades with Pyrrha.

"You know as someone from Kalos, the fact I'm using a baguette seems stereotypical and culturally innapropri-" Greninja was cut off when Pyrrha spun in place swatting Greninja away to the side. As he did Blake fell behind Pyrrha going in for a spinning right slash which Pyrrha stepped back to avoid. Pyrrha swung horizontally over a backwards rolling Blake before repositioning and striking again. Her bread phased through a shadow clone, and Blake made her way into the air spinning and throwing one of her baguettes at Pyrrha. It snapped as it hit the ground as Pyrrha zoomed forward stabbing Blake right before she hit the ground, sending her flying back. She broke her baguette but caught Blake's before throwing it like a javelin. Yang blocked it with a punch, followed by an upward kick to stop another as a third made its mark, knocking her back. Ruby soared above Yang riding a tray, surfing across the tables. Ruby jumped into the air using her tray to reflect a baguette spear back at Pyrrha. Pyrrha rolled to dodge but she was left open as Ruby surfed back on the tables, she jumped at Pyrrha tray first when a geyser of water sent her flying. Pyrrha looked to her right seeing Greninja holding a nozzled bottle of carbonated water.

"Wipeout!" Greninja cheered before shaking the bottle and spraying Pyrrha. She raised her arms to block but was still shoved back rolling. Ren and Nora ran forward at Greninja and he jumped into the air leaving Slurpuff in the open.

" **Fairy Parfume!** " Slurpuff raised her arms and stomped a tray in front of her sending a barrage of glitter covered fairy cakes at the duo. Ren got a full-frontal assault, tripping him up and knocking him into a row of tables knocking them into the air. Nora jumped onto a table falling in mid-air, then jumped off that to snap off a metal pole. She spun it and stabbed it into a watermelon as she fell landing on her feet and raising the makeshift-hammer into the air. Slurpuff and Greninja braced themselves as the hammer was brought down, only to be blocked between two pieces of meat. "Lucario parfume!"

Lucario stood in front of his teammates holding two hams, holding them by the bone. "You need to get to Master! He's all alone out there!"

"Only if you promise to see us again." Greninja dramatically bargained.

Lucario quickly pushed the hammer upwards leaving Nora open, as her delivered a series of quick hits, by swinging the hams like two mini Bone Rush's. Nora spun in place hitting Lucario in the chest driving him back to his team.

"You drive a hard bargain Greninja. But I accept, get going!"

"I'm gonna hold you to this later!" Greninja responded as he and Slurpuff ran off leaving him and Nora alone.

Nora jumped into the air bringing her hammer down. Lucario jumped back to dodge, but Nora spun in place knocking Lucario in his hip. Nora went to finish him when Weiss charged forward holding a swordfish. She stabbed Nora sending her flying back when she landed on her two feet, Nora jumped back into the air dodging a right slash when she landed. She twirled the hammer above her head making Weiss defensively parry when the melon hit her in the gut, creating a pink shockwave signifying a powerful blow that blew apart the tables in her path and knocking Weiss out against a column, breaking it in the process. Ruby hurried over and held Weiss in her arms.

"Weiss. Weiss! Don't leave me! No!" She cried out as the column launched the food and plates into the air.

Lucario managed to gain some distance and sighed shaking his head. "This is ridiculous…" Lucario looked at Weiss, then at Nora remembering that the only reason he was still here was because she intervened. "But I will make sure your sacrifice wasn't in vain!"

Yang ran forward Turkey boxing gloves in tow, as Ren rolled across a table from the other side of the room grabbing two leaks (Farfetch'd would be jealous). He ran at Yang and the two gave a battle cry as Yang spun, thrust kicking Ren who blocked the foot with his leaks. The two eyed each other in a stalemate before Yang kicked above Ren, making him duck and knee Yang's arm. Yang managed to punch Ren's left arm, then elbowed him in the face pressuring him back before giving him a right hook. Ren spun round only for his leak to get blocked by Yang raising her Turkey's in a defensive stance, he swung over her head as she ducked, then upwards in front of him for Yang to lean back and strike him with a swinging left fist. She followed up with a left hammer fist on his back, making him lean down before finishing with an uppercut sending him airborne. Ren recovered and threw his leaks at her making Yang jump in the air to avoid them and she punched him down to the ground making the tables in the area explode outwards. Ren struggled to push himself up as Nora came in swinging forcing Yang back. Nora and Yang both charged at each other crying out planting their feet ready to deliver a powerful blow. Time seemed to slow, as Nora quickly struck first smashing her melon in the process. Yang was sent into the air smashing through the ceiling into the sky.

"This is my chance." Lucario murmured from the distance. He grabbed a handful of marshmallows in his paws and generated a blue aura. The marshmallows were lit and began to melt and become sticky as Lucario put his paws together shaping the gooey, burning marshmallow into a ball. "This is for my Master! For Miss Schnee! And for my Lunch!" Lucario grunted throwing the blue flambeeing ball at Nora, giving her no time to react as it collided exploding into mini marshmallows and taking Nora out.

Meanwhile under the ceiling Blake backflipped to avoid the debris and picked up a string of sausages. She spun them around her, whipping Lucario into the vending machines at the back of the room, knocking fizzy drinks out. Pyrrha brought her palms down magnetising the cans, lifting them into the air before gesturing them to fly forward. Blake rolled backwards but was caught in the ensuing explosions trapping her as Pyrrha manoeuvred the cans to hit her head on with blunt force hitting her with point blank explosions and knocking her out against the back of the wall. Kai watched on and awed.

"Holy Milktank." He murmured. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes and sent a wave of cans at Kai. Kai panicked and braced himself as Slurpuff jumped in front of him holding a stick of pink cotton candy.

" **Cotton Parfume!** " She shouted as she wrapped herself in the cotton candy as a makeshift Cotton Guard. She began blocking the soda grenades as they exploded in contact, at first she was as sturdy as a rock but soon she began to falter. Before she gave in Greninja jumped in and grabbed Kai getting him out of there as the damage was too much and Slurpuff was sent flying into the wall, covered in a sticky mess… That she licked happily while unconscious.

"Slurpuff!" Kai cried out.

"She's gone man!" Greninja reinforced.

"Why did she sacrifice herself? It should have been me! It should have been-!"

Greninja slapped Kai across the face. "Pull yourself together! Slurpuff did not go through all that just to let you die! Now man up and get over it!"

"… You're right. I knew that not all of us were gonna get out of this."

"Then let's go down fighting!"

Kai and Greninja clasped hand and front foot tightly as behind them Ruby stared at her defeated teammate. Ruby got a determined expression and got into a starting position before running forward at Mach speed sending forward a powerful wind. Kai stepped forward only taking a less powerful starting gust with Greninja holding onto him for support. The wind pulled in cans, scraps, plates, tables, anything not nailed down and it followed her. Team JNPR got up and stared at the approaching storm as Ruby burst into petals charging through them. The team was caught up and dragged forward through the air as Ruby came to an immediate halt making the wall crack from the pressure, pinning Team JNPR against it. Ruby jumped away as the food storm bombarded the wall making it look like a splattered painting. Team JNPR slid off the wall as Ruby stood in front of them looking down.

" **Tomato, I choose you!** " Kai declared.

Ruby looked up just when the tomato hit her and exploded covering her face in red paste. She remained motionless before falling backwards defeated.

"Hmm?" Greninja hummed putting his front foot to his chin looking at the splattered wall. "Not bad. Makes more sense than most modern art."

"That's all you've got to say." Kai responded disappointed before looking behind him to see Sun.

"I love these guys." Sun said bluntly.

His friend on the other hand looked upset… And covered in purple.

"Hey Sun! It's been a while!" Kai greeted. "And you! … Sorry about the mess."

"I don't know, he looks good in purple." Greninja remarked.

"Not. Funny." The boy said annoyed.

Greninja shrugged. "I beg to differ."

Suddenly Miss Goodwitch stormed through the doors with an annoyed expression growling.

"Hey Miss Goodwitch…" Kai murmured nervously. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"It's worse." Greninja added.

Kai gave Greninja a disapproving look as Goodwitch walked in front of the two of them and pushed her palm out, stopping plates of food in front of her with telepathic waves before thrusting it back. Then in less than a minute (specifically twelve seconds) the tables, food, and cutlery began floating in the air and re-arranging itself neatly, as if it had only just been prepared for lunch to start.

Greninja whistled and clapped his front feet together, Kai gave him an upset look… Then immediately joined in with the applause. Goodwitch looked at them and the two immediately stopped what they were doing.

"Children, please do not play with your food." Goodwitch said disapprovingly, adjusting her glasses.

Team JNPR and Team RWB stood opposite each other covered in food paste, Nora burped as the sound of cracking signalled the arrival of Yang falling through the ceiling, followed by laughter.

Goodwitch growled when Ozpin appeared behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Let it go." He said calmly.

Goodwitch sighed. "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

"And they will be. But right now they're still children. So why not let them play the part." Ozpin started walking away and Goodwitch looked behind her at him. "After all- it isn't a role they can play forever." Before Ozpin had fully left he turned around and looked at Kai. "Oh and Kai. Can you come up to my office at the end of the day, just clean yourself up first."

"Yeah sure. What do you mean by-?" Kai looked at himself and realised he was covered in food stains. His eyes became white circles and he stood completely stiff, his mouth gaped and a quiet squeal was all that could be heard.

"So close. So close." Greninja muttered grabbing a hold of Kai and slowly helping him walk away. "There, there. We're gonna get to our room, put on a nice clean set of clothes and make it back down before next lesson okay?"

Kai didn't say much and just continued to quietly squeal, as Greninja sighed.

 _'_ _Typical, the fact he has perception and didn't notice this earlier is pretty ironic. Or coincidental? Or… Something? Why do I get the feeling I'm forgetting something?'_ Greninja thought as he walked Kai out. As he left Slurpuff fell off the wall lying face flat on the floor covered in cotton candy and soda, at the other end of the room was Lucario covered in food paste trying to get to his feet.

"War… Is the H-Word." Lucario weakly said to himself.

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

Ozpin was staring from his office window with Goodwitch through the clouds at the new students arriving. Several airships and Atlas military ships were flying by and the Main Avenue had a small army of students walking on it.

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels." Goodwitch remarked.

"Well… Running an academy and a military makes him a busy man." Ozpin defended. "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore."

A beeping came from his desk and Ozpin turned around to see a blue holographic screen with the message 'ACCESS REQUIRED'.

"Come in." Ozpin stated and the elevator doors opened revealing Ironwood.

He wore a white overcoat, with a grey undercoat, a black sweater, a red necktie, and a white glove on his right hand. His suit pants share the same colour as his overcoat and are tucked into silver boots accented in grey.

"Ozpin." Ironwood said as he came in.

"Hello general."

"Please drop the formalities." The man encouraged as he and Ozpin shook hands. "It's been too long! And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met."

"Oh James…" Goodwitch began to say. "I'll be outside." Goodwitch ignored Ironwood and began walking out of the room.

"Well she hasn't changed a bit."

"So…" Ozpin walked to his desk towards his teapot. "What in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal festival." Ozpin poured Ironwood a mug of coffee which he accepted.

"Well you know how much I love Vale this time of year." Ironwood replied while pouring the contents of a flask into his coffee. "Besides, with you hosting… I thought this might be a good opportunity for us to catch up."

Ozpin went to sit in his chair while Ironwood stood in front of his desk.

"I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends… However… The small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned." Ozpin said while pouring himself a drink.

"Well… Concern is what brought them here." Ironwood explained.

"I understand travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult-"

"Oz… You and I both know why I brought those men."

Ozpin took a drink of his coffee and sighed. "We are in a time of peace. Shows of power like this- are just going to give off the wrong impression."

"But if what Qrow said is true then-"

"If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it tactfully. It's the Vytal festival; a time to celebrate unity and peace. So, I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"I'm just being cautious."

"As am I… Which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can."

"Believe, me I am." Ironwood turned away and walked to the middle of the room. "But ask yourself this… Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?"

"I hope they never have to." Ozpin answered seriously.

Ironwood went to leave when Ozpin's desk started beeping again, showing the same blue screen with the same message.

"Expecting someone?" Ironwood asked.

"Yes actually. Someone that I want you to meet." Ironwood turned to Ozpin raising a brow. "Come in."

The elevator doors opened and Kai in his trainer attire stepped out.

"Hey Ozpin what's up? Is this about finding a way home because no offence; me and my family are starting to get very impa-" Kai stopped himself when he saw Ironwood. "Am I interrupting?"

"No."

"Yes."

Ironwood looked at Ozpin who sighed. "James this is Kai Emblem, a particular student of interest. Kai… This is General Ironwood. The headmaster of Atlas academy and the commander of their army."

Once Kai heard Ironwood's title he shot awake and straightened his posture giving a salute.

"It's an honour to meet you sir. Sorry for not addressing you earlier sir… Okay now that I think about it, this might be very insulting sorry."

Ironwood chuckled. "At ease son. I'm sure you must be quite the resourceful young man for Ozpin to introduce you to me like this."

Kai relaxed and gave a sigh of relief as he walked closer to the two headmasters. "Sooo… What's this all about?"

"Kai, I can understand how frustrating it must be for you to have gotten nowhere in finding a way home. I must apologise for that; my reach is only so far. However, Ironwood is a close friend of mine, I'm sure that once he understands your situation, he'll be happy to use his resources to search all of Mantle if need be." Ozpin explained.

"Oz, what are you going on about?" Ironwood asked.

Ozpin took a sip of coffee and gestured to Kai. "Mr Emblem, I made a promise to you. If you want Ironwood's help, only you can decide if he gets to know."

"Know what?" Ironwood said seriously.

Kai stood there awkwardly thinking before sighing. "You really think he can help?"

"Yes."

"And you trust him?"

"He is one of my closest friends, and one of my most trusted allies."

Kai nodded smiling before hovering his hand over his Poké balls before deciding on one.

"General Ironwood, may I present to you my family… Meet Slurpuff."

Kai enlarged the Poké ball and sent Slurpuff out.

"Parfume!" She declared happily.

Ironwood jerked back suddenly in shock and put his hand in his white overcoat.

"James!" Ozpin shouted making him freeze. Kai looked on concerned and Slurpuff just tilted her head. "She won't harm you. She's a friend."

Ironwood remained in shock for a second but quickly composed himself and placed his hands on top of each other in front of him. "… I can see why Ozpin has taken an interest in you."

"That would be an understatement." Kai admitted.

Slurpuff waddled to the end of the table and began sniffing Ironwood. "Mmm, Metal parfume."

"What did that thing just call me?" Ironwood said insulted.

Kai sighed disappointed. "Firstly; that ' _thing'_ is a member of my family, please treat her as such. Secondly; she gives people nicknames based on their smell or parfume. You must smell of metal, which is odd, I don't see any metal on you. Are you wearing armour underneath your shirt of something?"

"Something like that." Ironwood answered awkwardly. "Ozpin, how? What-?"

"I think it would be better if Kai explained his scenario to you." Ozpin nodded at Kai and Kai nodded back before looking at Ironwood.

"It all started close to three months ago now." Kai began to say.

Kai explained to Ironwood everything that happened. From arriving in Remnant to Ozpin giving him a place at his Academy. Ironwood remained composed for the most part but asked plenty of questions, and when Kai was done Ironwood paced around the room.

"So let me get this straight." Ironwood started to say. "You come from another world called Earth filled with these creatures called Pokémon which you capture and train. After putting your life on the line to save another trainer you just happened to enter our world through a portal of unknown origin, and now you're training to become a Huntsman."

"That about sums it up yes." Kai deadpanned.

"Are there any more trainers that I should know about?"

"Like me no. Buuut…"

"But?" Ironwood repeated annoyed.

"There is a criminal organisation in my world known as Team Flare who arrived here, and they're currently working with the White Fang. And they have Pokémon of their own."

Ironwood groaned before looking at Ozpin. "Why haven't you told me this sooner?"

"At the moment, it didn't seem important. I thought that Mr Emblem was a special case, but it appears that the situation is much more complicated than I first thought."

"A special case?!"

Ozpin abruptly got up. "Kai, I think it's time you leave. Thank you for your co-operation."

"Oh?" Kai said surprised. "Okay then." Kai returned Slurpuff then awkwardly headed to the elevator and opened the door. "By the way thanks for recommending me that-" Kai froze in thought as the door opened. "I just remembered there's something I've gotta do!" Kai ran into the elevator and quickly closed it.

Ironwood looked at Ozpin disapprovingly. "He may not have caught on. But I know you…" Ironwood placed his palms on Ozpins desk and looked Ozpin in the eye. "How long have you known about these Pokémon in our world?"

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee and placed the mug down away from him. "Roughly… Just less than two years."

* * *

Elsewhere Team RWBY were sitting together on a table in the library, a board game was laid out in front of them and they were all strategically looking at the cards in their hands.

"Hmmmm…" Ruby hummed deep in thought. "All right! Hmmmm… Alright…" Ruby pointed directly in front of her energetically. "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

"Bring it on!" Yang declared.

"I deploy, the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Yang gasped overdramatically. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly."

Ruby made a series of plane noises as Yang gasped again before pointing at her sister dramatically.

"You fiend!"

"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time only lasts one turn."

Yang laughed making Ruby gasp.

"Pretty sneaky sis, but you just activated my trap card!" Yang revealed making Ruby squeal. "Giant Nevermore!" Yang raised her fist and slammed it on the table making the pieces' shake. "If I roll a seven or higher Fatal Feathers will slice your fleet in two."

"But, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces."

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take."

Meanwhile Team JNPR were reading in the library: Ren had a large text book in front of him, Nora was sleeping on said book and Jaune was reading an 'X-Ray and Vav' comic which was taken away by Pyrrha and replaced with a text book.

"HAH!" Yang shouted in the distance.

"NOOOOOOOOO, MY FEARLESS SOLDIERS!" Ruby moaned in the distance.

"Eh, most of them were probably androids."

"Goodbye my friends. You will be avenged."

"Not until I draw my rewards, which are doubled this round, thanks to the Mistral trade route!"

"Bah!"

"Oh! And what's this? The smugglers of Wind Path!?"

"BAH! BAH, I SAY!"

"Looks like I'm taking two cards from your hand!"

"HAVE YOU NO HEART!?" Ruby placed her head on the table sulking. "Noooo…"

"Well Weiss, it's your turn!"

"I have… Absolutely no idea what's going on." Weiss admitted as Yang leaned in awfully close.

"Look it's easy! You're playing as Vacuo which means all Vacuo based cards come with a bonus!"

"That sounds dumb." Weiss complained as Yang shuffled the cards in her hand.

"See… You've got Sandstorm, Dessert Scavenge- Oh! Oh! Resourceful Raider! See now you can take Ruby's discarded air fleet-"

"Nooooo…" Ruby cried comedic streams from her eyes over the table.

"- and put it in your hand!"

"Okay?" Weiss said.

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance boost against natural hazards, you could use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom! Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war."

"And that means?"

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" Ruby sobbed.

Weiss had a sudden realisation and stood up laughing maniacally. "YES! FEAR THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF MY FORCES! COWER AS THEY PILLAGE YOUR HOMES AND WEEP AS THEY TAKE YOUR CHILDREN FROM YOUR VERY ARMS-!"

"Trap card."

"Huh?"

Yang rearranged the game in a pile of duct removing a large number of pieces.

"Your armies have been destroyed."

Weiss sat back down defeated and upset with comedic tears running down her face. "I hate this game of emotions we play!"

Ruby immediately leaped into her arms. "Stay strong, Weiss. We'll make it through this together."

"Shut up! Don't touch me!" Weiss stated while only bringing Ruby in closer.

Yang placed her arms behind her head. "All right Blake, you're up."

"Huh?" Blake reacted uninterested. "Oh! Umm… Sorry, what am I doing?"

"You're playing as Vale trying to conquer the kingdoms of Remnant."

"Right…"

"Hey can I play?" Jaune asked as he walked up to the table.

"Sorry Jaune we already have four people." Ruby apologised.

"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you possess." Weiss bragged.

"Uhh… You attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago." Yang reminded.

"Hmph!"

"Bring it on, ice queen!" Jaune challenged. "I'll have you know that I've been told I'm a natural, born leader!"

"By who? Your mother?"

"And Pyrrha!"

"Hello again!" Pyrrha greeted from across the room.

"Come on, let me play your hand for a turn."

"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!" Weiss denied.

"Why not?! You've trusted me with way more important stuff before!" I mean you told us all that Blake is secretly a Fau-"

Pyrrha rushed out of her seat and placed her hand on Jaune's mouth. "Fun-loving person whom we all admire and respect."

Blake gave Jaune a highly disapproving look and he nervously laughed.

"Right… That. But!" Jaune began to say. "I also kept the secret about Kai and his Pokémon actually being ali- WAA!"

Before he could finish Jaune was taken down by a swift blue blur pinning him to the ground, and making Pyrrha gasp.

"Watch your tongue Mr Arc. Master has trusted you a great deal in telling you our secret, do not make him or us regret it." Lucario threatened.

"Got it! I'll just keep my mouth shut from how on." Jaune groaned.

Lucario got off him. "See that you do." Lucario looked around to see that all eyes were on him. "Good afternoon ladies. Gentlemen. Master will shortly be here in a moment, I just had to make sure that some things were left unsaid."

Just as Lucario said that Kai ran up to the table panting. "Lucario… You just can't do that…" Kai raised an open palm in the air. "Hey guys, Blake are you busy I just remembered something I need to tell you."

"Uhh we're currently in the middle of a game." Yang stated.

"Why do you want her anyway, it's the last day of break and we planned to spend it together as a team." Weiss stated.

"Look I didn't mean to interrupt it's just…" Kai took a breath. "When I got my book that I'm always reading I got five Lien off by telling the man in charge that I'd recommend the place to Blake, but given everything that happened that night it slipped my mind, and today's the last day of break and if we don't go now I might forget again." Kai said quickly before catching his breath.

"… We can wait for you to finish your game if necessary." Lucario added.

"Actually-" Blake began to say.

"'Sup losers?" Sun greeted from behind Blake as he held up a peace sign.

"Hey Sun!" Ruby greeted.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Kai, Ice Queen…"

"Why does everyone keep calling me that!?" Weiss shouted.

"Firstly it's a nickname, a title given to someone normally by friends as a common sign of friendship, convenience or malice." Lucario started to say. "Though if you want specifics… I would say the 'ice' part comes from your cold demeanour and common use of ice dust in battle. The 'queen' part on the other hand may come from your heritage as an heiress, giving you a so called 'kingdom' to rule over as well as your high standards commonly seen in queens in old fairy tales. Does that answer your question?"

Everyone went silent and Weiss started to blush as Kai nudged Lucario. "I think she was being rhetorical."

It took a moment for Lucario to realise what that meant. "I see… My apologies Sun. I have interrupted you by answering a pointless question."

"It's no problem." Sun responded. "Anyway, I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."

"Uh… Aren't libraries meant for reading?" The boy from earlier asked.

"Thank you!" Ren shouted from a distance.

Nora snorted and woke up. "Pancakes!"

"Shut up don't be a nerd." Sun berated.

"Geh- geh- geh- geh. Intellectual. Okay. Thank you." The boy corrected. "I'm Neptune."

"So, Neptune where are you from?" Weiss asked.

"Haven…" He answered as he walked closer to Weiss' chair. "… And I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel."

"Um… I'm Weiss."

"Are you kidding me!?" Jaune whispered annoyed from the background.

"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune continued.

"I never took you as the board-game-playing type!" Sun said to Blake.

"Right… Well I think I'm done playing, actually." Blake said as she got up. "Kai you mentioned something about a book shop."

"Yeah, it's just in town but-"

"Great, then let's go." Blake turned to her friends. "I'll see you guys later."

Blake started walking away and Kai just shrugged his shoulders awkwardly getting ahead of her. Lucario didn't pay much attention to the whole situation and just followed behind Kai leaving the large group alone.

"Women." Nora deadpanned.

* * *

 **-Evening, City of Vale-**

"So what was the name of this place again?" Blake asked.

"Tukson's!" Kai answered. "Tukson's book trade. Ozpin recommended me the place."

"Right…" Blake murmured.

Kai looked at her concerned. "Are you feeling okay? For the past few days you went from, I'm finally starting to open up and share to, I wanna ditch my friends as soon as possible."

"I didn't want to ditch them I just-" Blake sighed. "I just need to think."

"Okay, I won't bring it up again."

Blake smirked. "I can see where Aegislash gets it from."

"Look coming from a guy who is constantly keeping secrets and thinking of solutions to scenarios ever since he got here, I can understand needing some time to yourself. Just don't forget we've both got teams we can talk to."

"Thanks I- Kai!" Blake said alarmed.

"What?" Kai responded when he looked ahead of him. "… Oh no."

In front of him was Tukson's Book Trade… Surrounded by the police. Kai rushed forward towards a pair of policemen.

They both wore sunglasses, a white shirt with a black tie, black trousers and suspenders. One of them had black hair combed back as well as a beard, while the second had a clean shaven face and messy dark brown hair brushed forwards.

"What happened here?" Kai asked.

"Technically we're not meant to talk about the case details." One of the cops said as he was taking down notes. "But off the record, the guy was murdered."

"Murdered?!" Kai repeated shocked.

"That's terrible." Blake added.

"Hey you might want to take a look at this." An officer inside said. He came out holding a White Fang banner.

"That explains it." The cop said.

"Explains what?" Kai prodded.

"Two packed bags, a ticket to Vacuo, White Fang association. The guy was making a run for it. Tsk typical criminals, thinking all they need to escape the law is to leave the jurisdiction."

"That's not it!" Blake cried

"Excuse me?"

"Blake calm down." Kai encouraged.

"What if he was trying to leave the White Fang, to start a new life! You have no evidence to think they were just trying to escape justice!" Blake argued.

"Look kid. Even if what you're saying is true, starting a new life is evading justice. Do you really think that just because someone has a change of heart, they don't deserve penalties for their crimes? Why are you so heated up anyway, did you know the guy?"

Before Blake could say anything else, Kai grabbed her arm and started walking away. "No. No we don't. We're just curious. Sorry for wasting your time officer."

The policeman sighed. "I don't get paid enough for this."

When the two of them were further away Kai let go of Blake and looked her in the eye.

"Look Blake, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for-"

"It's fine." Blake said annoyed as she started walking off. "You didn't plan for this to happen. But that still doesn't make it right."

Kai held his arm out and went to say something but the words weren't coming to him. He just pulled his arm back and let Blake get a head start.

 _'_ _Who would do this?'_ He thought.

* * *

 **Several hours later…**

Two teenagers that were seen several weeks ago with Torchwick were walking into a warehouse.

One was the young woman with medium-brown skin and mint-green hair. Her attire consisted of an intricate white top and an olive-coloured shallow-cut crop top, on the back of which is her personal emblem shaped like a cut gem. This accompanied by white shorts, decorated with what appears to be a gold coin-plated belt, with four gold chains draping around her back from two of the coins and what seems to be a green loincloth. She also wore white pants and brown chaps that end at her calves and an overlong belt, twice-wrapped, where she keeps her weapons as well as a single pouch.

The second was the young man with slicked back silvery-grey hair and pale skin. He was a well-built young man with grey eyes and wore a slate grey and black two-tone partial-zip jacket, that covers his upper body. He also wears a single notched belt with what appears to be a sash or bandana draped over it. Protecting his arms are sets of rerebraces and vambraces. He also wore long pants and a pair of shoes.

As they walked in they saw White Fang members, Team Flare grunts and several different Pokémon moving supplies in crates off a bullhead. The two of them made it to Torchwick who was looking at a labelled map of Vale before he turned around.

"Oh look, she sent the kids again." Torchwick greeted before walking behind them and placing his arms over their faces. "This is turning out just like the divorce."

"Ugh." The girl shuddered. "Spare us the thought of you procreating."

Torchwick stepped away from them. "That was a joke. And this just might tell me where you two have been all day." Torchwick held out a paper note.

"What?" The girl looked into her back pocket.

"I'm a professional sweetheart. Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something." He bragged as he studied the note. "Why do you have this address?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yeah, I would. Now where have you been all day?"

The boy stepped forward. "Cleaning up your problems. One of them at least." He said.

"I had that under control."

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise."

"Listen you little punk, if it were up to me I would take you and your little street-rat friend here, and I would-"

"Do what, Roman?"

Torchwick was cut off by a female voice. The same woman who met him that night with the other two.

She had ashen-black hair and bright amber eyes, while her fingernails are painted dark red. There is a baseball diamond-shaped keyhole on the dress' upper back at the same height as her chest. The sleeves end in a triangle shape, which are wrapped or tied around her middle finger, with the gold designs of the sleeve taking over at the wrists. She wore black shorts underneath her dress, as well as a black choker on her neck. She wore a gold loop earring with a black gem dangling from it on her right ear and she has dark, glass, high-heeled shoes and a jewelled anklet on her right leg.

She walked forwards and went down to Torchwick and the others on a lift.

Torchwick laughed nervously. "I'd uh… Not kill them?"

"Cinder!" The girl greeted cheerfully.

"I thought I made it clear that you were to eliminate the would-be runaway." Cinder critiqued.

"I was going to!" Torchwick defended.

"He was going to escape to Vacuo. Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat." The girl pointed out.

"I think he was some sort of cat actually." Mercury pointed out.

"What like a puma?"

"Yeah, there ya go."

"Quiet." Cinder interrupted. "Did I specifically not instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?"

"I just thought-" The girl started to say.

"Don't think. Obey." Cinder coldly stated as Torchwick did a hand across the throat motion behind her.

"Yes ma'am. It won't happen again."

"And you." Cinder turned to Torchwick and he nervously laughed. "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"

"Uh… Eh?" Torchwick gestured to the ship to his right. "Ehhh?" Torchwick gestured to the cardboard boxes on his left. "EHHHHHHHHHH!?" Torchwick gestured to the entire hanger. "Sorry if I've been a little busy stealing every speck of Dust in the kingdom!"

"You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and ski-mask." Mercury sarcastically remarked making the girl laugh.

"Look around, kid. I've got this town running scared. Police camping out at every corner. Dust prices through the roof. And we're sitting pretty in an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials and rounds than we know what to do with. Speaking of which. If you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grand-master plan, it might actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother."

"Oh Roman. Have a little faith." Cinder said walking forward. "You'll know what you need when you need to know it." Cinder caressed his face before turning away and walking. "Besides, we're done with Dust."

"Okay. Then what now?"

"We're moving. Have the White Fang and Team Flare clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."

"Coordinates?"

"We're proceeding to phase two."

Torchwick got a cigar and went to light it when he couldn't find his lighter. He heard a click ahead of him and saw the girl with the lighter in her hand sticking her tongue out and shutting it.

As Cinder was walking ahead with Mercury a couple of Team Flare grunts got in their way.

"What is the meaning of this?" Cinder asked as the girl caught up.

"Sorry ma'am but Xerosic wants to know what we are meant to be doing next ma'am." The grunt nervously asked.

"Tell him to do what he's told. We need as many wild Pokémon as possible, and that Team Flare needs to continue assisting the White Fang."

"W- We know that ma'am bu- but recently it's been getting more and more difficult. The gym leaders and champions from all the regions are working together to make Routes as secure as possible. It's becoming more difficult to g- get more Pokémon without revealing oursel-"

"I don't care what you need to do. These Pokémon will be our secret weapon, so tell Xerosic to find another way. Mercury. Emerald. We're leaving, hopefully without any more interruptions." Cinder walked off with her companions who gave the grunts smug looks as the grunts looked at themselves nervously.

* * *

 **And here is the beginning of the 'Investigation arc'. I included a lot more of the shows scenes then I would of liked but they were important and helped flush out the characters more so I think I could afford to get away with it. But I have to say, writing the food fight scene was definitely one of the things I looked forward to the most, and I hope I was creative enough with Kai's team.**

 **Either way until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	27. Chapter 26: Sightseeing

**-Night time, Beacon Academy-**

 _ **September 29th**_

"That's odd…" Kai murmured to himself, flicking through his book.

 _ **====================================================================================================/**_

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"And that's concerning."

"What is Kai?"

Kai looked behind him to see Noivern sitting alone with him in the room.

"It's nothing Noivern it's just… This book looks like it was torn to shreds."

"Didn't the guy tell you some of the words were worn out." Noivern reminded.

"But that's the thing, it's not worn out. It looks like whatever was written in here was scribbled or ripped out." Kai sighed and looked down in thought when Noivern's head rested in his lap.

"Does that mean we're not going home?" Noivern asked hesitantly.

"Of course, we're still going home." Kai reassured as he stroked his friends' ears. "It's just taking a while…" Kai stayed silent for a moment before closing the book and beginning to pace around the room.

"What ya thinking about?" Noivern asked when his head was lightly pushed off Kai's lap when he got up.

Kai paced in silence for a minute keeping his chin on his fist before snapping his fingers and looking up, before turning back to Noivern. "It just hit me. So far all we've had to go on to get back home is that book."

"… Aaand?"

"And! We only got that book by going into town."

"… I'm still not following."

Kai smirked. "Tomorrow, we're going to do some sightseeing!"

Noivern tilted his head confused. "… What?"

* * *

Meanwhile in Team RWBY's dorm Blake was sitting on her bed with her arms wrapped around her legs, the window was wide open letting Blake look at a clear view of the moon.

 _"_ _Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?"_ Blake remembered what she said on the docks.

 _"_ _The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture."_ Torchwick's statement followed.

The sounds of her fighting against Torchwick played in the background of her head as she started to remember something else.

* * *

 _"_ _Well… This has certainly been an eventful evening."_

 _"_ _Hm." Blake looked up._

 _She was now in a police interrogation room. The same one where Kai was interrogated by Ozpin about Team Flare, and sure enough he was the one who spoke to Blake._

 _"_ _I'm sure that after a night of thwarting attempted robbery you probably just want to go home and take a nap, that is what Kai is certainly doing right now but…" Ozpin walked forward to the table Blake was at and sat in a chair placing his cane and mug down. "I was hoping that maybe we could have a chance to talk."_

 _"_ _Of course." Blake responded._

 _"_ _Wonderful! As you know, in order to enrol at my academy, students must first pass a rigorous entrance exam. Most applicants spend years of preparation training at one of the many combat schools around the world… You are one of the few who did not. And you passed the exam with flying colours." Ozpin said before taking a drink._

 _"_ _I was raised outside the kingdoms. If you can't fight, you can't survive." Blake explained._

 _"_ _Well you have most certainly survived, Blake. I admire your drive. And I am proud to run a school that accepts individuals from all walks of life." Ozpin slowly brought his mug to his lips. "Rich, poor, human…" Ozpin intentionally paused and took a sip of his drink. "… Faunus." Blake narrowed her eyes at him. "Why do you wear that bow, Blake? Why hide who you are?"_

 _"_ _You may be willing to accept the Faunus, Professor Ozpin, but your species is not."_

 _"_ _True… But we are continuing to take strides to lessen the divide."_

 _"_ _With all due respect, you need to start taking some larger strides… Until then, I'd rather avoid any unnecessary attention. I want people to see me for who I am… Not what I am."_

 _"_ _And what are you?"_

 _"_ _I… I don't understand what you're asking." Blake answered nervously._

 _"_ _How did you know the White Fang would be at the shipyard tonight?"_

 _"_ _I didn't… I just happened to be at the right place at the right time."_

 _"_ _You wouldn't have been the first… But what happened tonight was not an isolated incident. I may be your headmaster but I am also a Huntsman… And it is my sworn duty to protect this world from the forces that may conspire against it. Blake… Are you sure there is nothing else you would like to tell me?"_

 _"_ _I'm sure…" Blake said adamantly._

 _"_ _Very well." Ozpin picked up his things and got up. "Thank you for your time, Ms Belladonna." Ozpin began walking away. "If you ever need to talk to me…" Ozpin looked at Blake concerningly and she just gave a look back. "Please don't hesitate to ask."_

 _Ozpin left as Blake_ snapped back to reality.

* * *

"Ugh! We should have never let him play!" Yang complained as she came in along with Ruby and Weiss.

Ruby chuckled. "You're just mad 'cause the new guy beat you. See if you had just attacked when I told you none of this would have happened."

Blake began to leave and Weiss pointed her out. "Stop." Blake went for the door handle but retracted her fingers. "Lately you've been quiet, anti-social and moody."

"Uh… Have you met Blake?" Yang pointed out.

"Which I get is kind of your ' _thing_ '. But you've been doing it more than usual, which quite frankly, is unacceptable. You made a promise to me, to all of us, that you would let us know if something was wrong." Weiss got into a dramatic pose. "So Blake Belladonna! What! Is Wrong!?" Weiss declared as she jumped onto a chair which Blake kept from toppling over. Ruby and Yang looked in surprise and awe before Weiss put the chair to the side and returned to Blake in a blur.

Blake closed her eyes. "I just… I don't understand how everyone can be so calm."

"You're still thinking about Torchwick." Ruby guessed.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, Team Flare, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!"

"Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsman, I'm sure they can handle it." Yang reassured.

"Well I'm not! They don't know the White Fang like I do."

The rest of her team looked at each other until Weiss broke the silence.

"Okay between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you think you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells…"

"Uh… Who?" Ruby said confused.

"But let me once again be the voice of reason… We're students. We're not ready to handle this sort of situation."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"We're not ready!"

"And we may never me ready!" Blake argued. "Our enemies are not just gonna sit around and wait for graduation day! They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not."

"Okay!" Ruby began to say. "All in favour of becoming the youngest Huntresses to single-handedly bring down a corrupt organisation conspiring against the kingdom of Vale… Say 'aye'!"

"Yes! I love it when you're feisty." Yang complimented.

"Well, I suppose it could be fun." Weiss agreed.

"None of you said 'aye'…" Ruby said disappointedly.

"Alright then… We're in this together." Blake sad happily.

"Let's hatch a plan!"

"Yeah!" Yang cheered.

"Aah!" Ruby gasped. "I left my board game in the library!"

Weiss shook her head with her hand on the side of her head. "We're doomed."

Ruby quickly ran out of the room. "I'll be right back! - Ugh… Oh…" Ruby bumped into something and fell onto the ground. "Sorry… Are- Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just watch where you're going."

In front of Ruby was Emerald and Mercury in black uniforms.

"Oh… Right… Sorry…" Ruby apologised as Emerald helped her up. "Um… I'm Ruby! Are you… New?"

"Visiting from Haven, actually."

A voice said from behind Emerald revealed to be Cinder. The two looked at each other in silence.

"Ooooooh! You're here for the festival! OH, but exchange students have their own dormitory.

"I guess we just got turned around." Mercury stated.

Ruby laughed. "Don't worry it happens all the time! Uh, your building is east of here!

"Thanks maybe we'll see you around." Cinder said before walking away with her team.

"Yeah, maybe! Oh! And welcome to Beacon!" Ruby welcomed before heading to the library as Cinder smirked.

"Ugh. How can she be so happy?" Emerald complained.

"Easy Emerald, she won't be like that in time." Cinder said sinisterly, right as a door hit her in the face knocking her onto the floor.

"Cinder!" Emerald went down and helped Cinder up as Kai stepped through the door.

"Okay Noivern, see that sound was just-" Kai noticed Cinder on the floor and his cheeks went red in embarrassment. "Oooh Arceus. I am so, so sorry. Let me-"

"It's fine. Really." Cinder responded. "Sorry if our little conversation just now worried your teammate."

"Teammate? Oh teammate! Yeah, he… He has really good hearing so if he hears something and doesn't know what it is, he gets a little spooked. Either way sorry again, I'll leave you be." Kai awkwardly closed the door. And Cinder growled as she walked ahead.

"Someone's mad." Mercury taunted.

"Not the time." Emerald said annoyed.

"What?"

* * *

 **The next day…**

It was the last lesson of the day, specifically Professor Port's class. Aside from his usual long-winded stories there was an anxious atmosphere surrounding Kai and Team RWBY. Weiss was currently staring at a holographic projection of the time in front of her showing it was 3:59.

Jaune moved over next to her. "So Weiss, you know uh, I was thinking that after this, maybe we could go and grab a bite to eat?" Weiss was unresponsive. "And uh, you know well I- I've got two tickets to that new Spruce Willis movie if you want to make the trip to Vale. I hear it's awesome." Weiss remained unresponsive. "And… Then maybe after that we could, study together? I mean, you're smart and I'm a, you know…"

Weiss' clock went to 4:00 and an alarm went off, she closed the screen down and looked up.

"And then I- oh, uh, timed that one wrong I guess." Port said slightly embarrassed. "Well the stunning conclusion to the story will have to wait. Until next time." On those words students quickly began to leave.

"Weiss did you hear me?" Jaune asked.

"No, no, no, yes." She replied.

Jaune sighed and placed his head on the desk as the rest of Team RWBY walked past him.

"One day." Yang comforted and rustled his hair.

Jaune groaned and raised his head as Kai patted his shoulder.

"Listen, I don't know much about dating or women but based on what I've seen. I think that it would be best if you let her go." Kai advised.

Jaune shot up. "Oor! You could be my wingman!"

"No. Jaune, you're doing the opposite of what I just sai-"

"Yeah. You already get along with Weiss pretty well, so you meet up vouch for me a few times-"

"Goodbye Jaune."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jaune begged as he quickly ran up to Kai.

"Jaune as much as I'd like to help. I have some important stuff I need to do in Vale today. As in right now."

"Come on Kai, what could be more important than helping a guy out with the ladies."

"Finding a way back home off a dangerous alien planet."

"Oh-" Jaune paused awkwardly. "You've found a way home."

Kai faced Jaune annoyed. "I haven't. That's the problem. Just over three months and the closest thing I've had is a book, which is starting to become a dead end. I know some people in town who owe me favours that might have some answers."

"Favours huh…" Jaune repeated as Kai walked out of the class and into the hall.

"Hold on a second!" Jaune said quickly catching up in front of Kai in a blur. "Why don't I give you a hand. You know, do you a favour."

Kai turned around unimpressed. "And in return, you want me to help you with Weiss."

"Well it doesn't have to be that but if you're offering-"

Kai sighed. "You're not dropping this are you?"

"Love is worth every cost!"

Kai looked at Jaune unimpressed. "… Get changed and meet me at the CCT in ten minutes."

"Yes!" Jaune fist pumped. "Wingman obtained!"

"Only if you help!" Kai reminded from halfway across the corridor.

"… Wingman obtainment in progress!"

* * *

 **A few minutes later…**

Team RWBY was in their dorm finishing getting changed into more… 'Mission appropriate' attires.

Ruby wore a long-sleeve, light grey shirt with black belted cuffs near the ends of the sleeves. Over the top of her shirt was a black pinafore with two vertical lines of red stitching that resemble the lacing on a corset. She wore a red skirt with a large black print of her emblem on the side and matching black tulle underneath.

Weiss wore a white, double-breasted jacket with black piping, cuffs and buttons over a white, pleated full skirt with black lace trim. She also wore a pair of white, thigh high boots with black heels and lace-topped black stockings.

Blake wore a white, V-neck, zip-up crop shirt with a black hem and three-quarter sleeves. Her emblem is printed in off-white on the left side of the shirt. She wore black pants that had a vertical grey stripe on the outer side of each leg and a black belt.

Yang wore a deep-collared cream vest worn over a low cut black shirt; both are covered by a dark grey shrug with a raised collar, three-quarter sleeves adorned with a single black stripe down the outside of each sleeve, and gold cuffs. A black miniskirt was worn under the cream vest.

"I thought that class would never end." Blake confessed.

"Alright guys today's the day. The investigation begins!" Ruby declared jumping off her bed.

"I'm glad to see we're taking this so seriously." Weiss remarked.

"Hey! We've got a plan. That's… Moderately serious." Yang defended.

"Right, everyone remember their roles?" Ruby asked.

"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies, or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem." Weiss stated.

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning." Blake answered.

"I have an old friend in the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard." Yang explained.

"Great we'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we've found. Let's do this!" Ruby cheered.

"Yeah!"

The girls looked out their window to see Sun hanging upside down by his tail.

"Sun!" Blake said alarmed as her and her team took a step back.

"How did you get up there?" Yang asked.

"Ah it's easy I do it all the time." Sun answered.

"You do what?" Weiss asked confused.

"I climb trees all the time." Weiss narrowed her eyes as Sun jumped into the room. "So… Are we finally gonna getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

"We, are going to investigate the situation. As a team." Blake said.

"Sorry Sun, we don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." Ruby explained.

"Pfft, that's dumb you should always get friends involved. That's why I brought Neptune." Sun gestured behind him as Team RWBY looked out their window to see Neptune clinging to the wall.

"'Sup." He greeted.

"How did you even get up here?" Ruby asked.

"I have my ways. Seriously though can I come in. We're like, really high up right now."

After Neptune came into the room the group went over the new pairings.

"All right. I'll go with Weiss. Sun, you can go with Blake. And Neptune you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner." Ruby shoved Neptune across the room as Weiss looked on in shock. "Everyone good?"

"Actually, Ruby why don't you go with Yang, ha. She is your sister." Weiss argued.

"But Weiss who would go with you then?"

"Well, I guess Neptune could come with me."

Ruby laughed. "Nah." She then proceeded to drag Weiss out of the room against her will.

"But! But!" Weiss repeated as she was forced away.

When the two of them left the room the rest of them just stood awkwardly in silence.

"I have a question. Why aren't we bringing Kai into this?" Sun asked. "If he's connected to these Team Flare loonies and they're working with the White Fang. Shouldn't he be here too."

"We did consider that, but somebody didn't want to get him involved." Yang looked accusingly at Blake.

"Kai already has a lot to deal with already: like getting back home and catching up to the rest of us in Huntsman training. I don't want to give him false hope or wrap him up with Team Flare if it doesn't get him anywhere."

"But isn't that what you're doing going after the White Fang." Neptune contradicted.

"Dude!" Sun said annoyed raising his arms in the air. "This is personal for her."

"And it's not for him?"

Blake sighed. "Forget it let's just… Get going." Blake walked out of the room and Sun followed.

* * *

As this was going on Jaune was standing just outside of the CCT pacing. He wore his regular combat attire minus his armour which was basically blue jeans and a black hoodie.

"Jaune I'm over here!" Kai shouted.

Jaune turned around but soon went wide eyed. "You look… I… Where did you get those clothes?"

Sure, enough Kai was wearing new clothes. He still had his fedora and Poké ball belt that was obvious. But his attire was now almost completely black. It looked like a gi with Kai's belt where a martial arts belt would be and he had on black pumps with white soles. The only bit of colour was the two axes from Vales symbol in green covering the gi's left side.

"It's kind of a weird story." Kai began to say. "I arrived back at my dorm to get changed into my trainer clothes when…"

 _Kai opened the door and sighed._

 _"_ _All right Kai, no more distractions. Today is the day when you-" Kai spoke to himself but stopped when he noticed a large cardboard box in the middle of the room. "That… Wasn't there earlier?"_

 _Kai cautiously approached the box and opened it revealing the new set of clothes with a note on top:_

 _ **Dear Kai,**_

 _ **I apologise for not giving these to you in person but as you know I am a busy man. Consider these new clothes a thank you for staying with me at my academy up until now. Rest assured I am looking into a way for you to get back home, these things just take time that's all.**_

 **Thank you once again for your patience,**

 **Ozpin.**

 _Kai read the note before looking back down at the neatly folded clothes in the box._

 _"_ _Well… It would be rude not to at least try them on."_

* * *

"And here we are now." Kai concluded.

"They're a little dark don't you think?" Jaune critiqued.

"I do admit I like to wear a lot more colour then this…" Kai paused and looked down at himself judgingly. "But these do feel comfortable. Now then let's get going we're losing daylight." Kai then looked back at Jaune. "By the way, nice hoodie."

Kai gestured to the middle of the hoodie which showed a cartoon rabbit.

"What? It's Pumpkin Pete. You know from the cereal-!"

"It was a compliment Jaune, no need to get so defensive." Kai said unemotionally as he walked off.

"Oh? ... Well thank you."

The first floor of the CCT was a large round room, with a green light coming from two areas of the floor. In the centre of the room was a set of stairs over one of the previously mentioned light sources that led to a round elevator.

Kai whistled. "I've gotta admit, this room never gets less impressive no matter how many times I see it."

Kai and Jaune walked forward past several other students before making their way inside the elevator.

" _Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?_ " An automated voice said.

"Well Kai, now what?" Jaune asked.

Kai looked at him confused. "Well… This is the part where you help me get to the communication place- area- thingy."

"Can't you do that?"

"I… I don't know how."

"You don't. But they told us during the first week of-"

"Wasn't here yet."

"But didn't Ruby-"

"Not enough time to explain before she realised she was late."

"But you've been here befor-"

"To see Ozpin. Hurry up Jaune please!"

"Okay fine. You don't need to yell." Jaune cleared his throat. "We'd like to go to the communications room… Please."

" _ **Absolutely. Could you please put your scrolls on the terminal to verify your identity.** "_ The voice said.

Jaune and Kai pulled out their scrolls and placed them over a green dotted emblem to the side of the elevator.

 _"_ _ **Perfect. Thank you, Mr Arc. Mr Emblem.** "_

The elevator went up and soon Jaune and Kai were at the communications room.

The room was round and full of tables with monitors in front of them, and walls on the sides to ensure privacy. Right in front of the elevator was a reception desk but no one seemed to be there.

Kai walked forward when a holographic lady appeared from behind the desk.

"Woah." Kai whispered in surprise.

 _"_ _Welcome to the Beacon Cross-Continental Transmit Centre. How may I help you?"_ The woman asked.

"Oh… Um…" Kai murmured. "Jaune, mind going first."

"Uh, sure." Jaune said as he stepped forward. "Yeah I'd like to make a personal call to my parents."

"What!" Kai said in shock. "You're meant to help me get information about finding a way home. Not making a house call!"

"It's fine. I just figured I'd call them while I'm here, don't worry I'll be sure to ask if they've seen anything strange."

"But-"

" _ **Absolutely.** "_ The woman interrupted. _" **If you could head over to terminal one, I'll patch you through.** "_

Jaune went ahead ignoring Kai's concerns and Kai sighed.

"Okay lady, can you-"

 _"_ _ **Welcome to the Beacon Cross-Continental Transmit Centre. How may I help you?** " _The woman asked.

"… Are there any lines where I can ask people questions about the kingdom. Like a Q&A line or something like that?" Kai asked.

" _ **Absolutely. If you could head over to terminal four, I'll patch you through.** "_

"Okay then…" Kai said awkwardly noticing the ladies repetition as he walked to the forth terminal. He passed several other students making calls before sitting down at a screen.

 _'_ _I don't know who's gonna answer but it's worth a shot.'_ Kai thought.

The screen turned on, on its own and showed a woman with purple hair in a pony tail and blue eyes in front of a green background with Vale's symbol in white.

" **Good afternoon. Thank you for calling the Vale information centre, how can I help you?** " The woman greeted politely.

"Yeah hi um…" Kai fumbled before taking a breath and thinking about what he wanted to say. "Do you know if there have been any recent, bizarre phenomenon in the kingdom or outside of it?"

" **I'm sorry I don't quite understand the question.** " The woman politely responded.

 _'_ _I should have expected this. I can't just exactly ask "Hey notice any portals to another world showing up?"'_ Kai thought.

"You know things like… Uncommon weather this time of year, bright lights appearing in the middle of nowhere, sightings of unexplainable things." Kai tried to explain.

" **Well we have been having less rain then normal these last few weeks. But we haven't had any reports of anything out of the ordinary recently. Is there anything else you'd like to ask?** "

Kai sighed disappointed before looking back at the woman giving a forced smile. "No, you've been a great help. Thank you."

"Please call again." The woman said before the screen turned off.

Kai got up and made his way back to the elevator. He waited patiently for a few minutes when Jaune came and joined him.

"Anything?" Kai asked hopefully.

Jaune shook his head. "Sorry. But my sisters say hi."

Kai dropped his shoulders unenthusiastically. "Well this is a great start."

"Cheer up Kai, you said there were people in town who owed you favours." Jaune reminded.

"I guess…" Kai moped.

He and Jaune headed to the door when it opened suddenly and Weiss came out.

"Weiss! Hey!" Jaune greeted in surprise. "Didn't expect to see you here. So, have you thought anymore about-"

"No, I haven't." Weiss interrupted and headed to the desk.

"Let her go Jaune. Let her go." Kai advised as the two entered the elevator shaft. It closed before the two of them heard what Weiss was there for.

* * *

 **-Late Afternoon, City of Vale-**

Kai and Jaune were now walking through town, the streets were surprisingly empty as if there was somewhere people had to be. Though Kai didn't mind, if anything he enjoyed the privacy barring-

"So, inviting Weiss alone was a bust I get that." Jaune said. "So, here's what I'm thinking. I tell her that I've already invited a bunch of people. That makes her relax and makes her believe she has to go. Except I've not actually asked anyone else so there we are, two friends whose pals have ditched them leaving them alone at a romantic venue."

"Uh hum." Kai replied uninterested.

"Could you at least try to listen."

"I am listening, I just have more important things on my mind. _Like getting home_." Kai emphasised.

"Right, right… But since you were listening-"

"Do you really think lying to Weiss will make you more attractive."

"Not if she doesn't find out."

"You honestly think Weiss of all people wouldn't check with her friends beforehand to check if they're coming or afterward to know why they didn't show up."

"… Oh. Yeah… I see the problem."

Kai smirked as he turned around the corner and saw a large crowd in the middle of the town looking at a holographic Ironwood and several robots on a stand.

"What the-?" Kai began to say.

" ** _The AK130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years._** _"_ Ironwood's hologram said over a loud speaker. " ** _And they have done a fine job, wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?_** _"_

The crowd applauded as the robots took a bow.

 _"_ _ **But the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation. And fine, well that's just not good enough is it?**_ _"_

A set of shutters opened behind the robots revealing sets of white, more polished and higher quality robots.

 _"_ _ **Presenting the Atlesian Knight.**_ _"_ The new robots proceeded to literally kick down their predecessors. " ** _Two hundred._** " The crowd clapped while Kai looked on from the distance with a disapproving look. _"_ _ **Smarter, sleeker and admittedly, a little less scary.**_ _"_ To seemingly prove that last point the robots gave a series of comedic poses. _"_ _ **These models will become active later this year but they won't be alone.**_ ** _Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require... A human touch._** _"_

 _'_ _A human touch?'_ Kai thought suspiciously.

 _"_ ** _So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce... the Atlesian Paladin!_** _"_

Ironwood's hologram is replaced with the hologram of a robotic white behemoth, featuring hinged piston legs, large guns for hands, and a rectangular head, standing at least twice as tall as the Knights below it.

" _ **Now, we couldn't have him here for you today, but these mechanized battle suits will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!**_ _"_

"Whoa…" Jaune awed.

Kai just rolled his eyes. "Of course that guy would use this opportunity of peace and togetherness to flaunt his newest toy to the masses."

"Come on Kai you've got to admit it looks pretty cool."

"Well in my experience, image only hides people's true intentions. And right now… That guy is reminding me of someone I'd rather forget." Kai said harshly walking off. "Come on the place we need to visit is nearby."

As Kai walked off he looked at the stage with disapproval, unaware of the two guards at the side who just ran off.

* * *

Kai and Jaune were now sitting in a waiting room along with several other people. The walls were a lime green and there was a woman at a counter speaking with other people.

"Umm Kai? Why are we here?" Jaune asked nervously.

"I told you. There are some people I know who might have answers, one of them happens to be here." Kai answered.

"Okay I get that but how do you know someone he-"

"Mr Emblem!" The woman at the counter shouted.

"Yes." Kai responded.

"Dr Amethyst, can see you now." She said.

"Thank you, Denice. Come on Jaune." Kai said as he went down a small hallway into a room. Jaune quickly followed and they both entered Dr Amethysts room, where she sat by her desk.

"Hello again. What seems to be the problem this time?" She snarkyly asked before noticing Jaune. "Look if he's the one with a problem then the appointment needs to be in his name, not yours."

"No, it's about me. It's about my 'amnesia', I remembered something." Kai explained.

"Amnesia? Kai you don't-" Kai gave him a look and Jaune stopped. "Oh right! Your amnesia! Yeah that's why we're here." Jaune laughed nervously as Kai looked back to the doctor.

"Look it's great that you're remembering things, but it's not my job to talk to you. So, unless you have a medical emergency-" Doctor Amethyst began to say.

"Look Doc." Kai said seriously closing the door and walking closer. "This is going to sound crazy but… Have any of your patients seen anything recently around here like a bright light appearing out of nowhere or-"

"I can't talk about my patients. That would be a breach of doctor, patient confidentiality."

"It's not like I'm asking you to tell me what was wrong with them. Just if you know… They happened to talk about recent strange phenomenon with you."

Doctor Amethyst sighed. "Look Kai. Off the record, I've heard nothing. Sorry. Now then, if you could leave so I could see my next patient I would really appreciate that."

Kai looked disappointed but complied, opening the door. "Thanks anyway." Kai said before he left, Jaune soon following him.

"Not you!" Doctor Amethyst interrupted.

"Me?" Jaune responded confused.

"Is there anyone else here?"

Jaune cautiously walked closer. "Okay, what is this about?"

"… Are you a Huntsman in training too?"

"Yeah I am. Why?"

Doctor Amethyst started biting her nails before looking back at Jaune. "And you wanted this?"

Jaune looked at her seriously. "More than anything."

"… All right. You can go now." She said and Jaune slowly began to leave. "Take good care of him." She added.

"Trust me, he can take care of himself." Jaune replied and walked out.

"That's what I'm afraid of." She said to herself.

* * *

It was dusk now and night was only a few minutes away, Kai and Jaune had walked around the town asking around getting nowhere. Now they stood in what looked like a shady district with degrading buildings around them.

"Um K- Kai. I know I've been saying this a lot today b- but-" Jaune stuttered.

"Don't worry Jaune. This is the last person we need to talk to. Unfortunately, he may be the worst." Kai replied making Jaune gulp. "Relax Jaune I saved this guys life so he owes me, and besides with him I can be a little more… Direct with my questioning."

Kai walked up to the door with Jaune very far behind. Two bouncers in black with red ties and sunglasses stopped him.

"Hey where do you think you're going?" The man said.

"Don't you know this is a private club?" The second said.

Kai remained unfazed and reached into the inside pocket of his gi pulling out a key. "I'm just here to finally return this. And to speak with an old friend. Tell Junior Kai's come back."

The two men looked at each other with confused looks before one of them pulled out a scroll putting it to their ear.

"Hey boss." The man began to talk to someone on the phone. "Look I'm just outside- I'm calling because this guy has a key and says he's an old friend of yours. A huh, a huh, Kai sir." A very loud voice came out of the phone shouting something indecipherable. "That's who he is?! No, I understand! I'll let him in right away!" The man put the scroll away and gestured with his hands the way into the building. "Sorry for the holdup sir."

"No problem. Come on Jaune." Kai said calmly as he walked in with a certain air of confidence around him. Jaune slowly followed but soon went into a quick sprint to catch up and not be left alone.

Kai entered Junior's to the greeting of loud music and bright lights. And he stared over at the counter to see a familiar face.

"There you are Junior! How's life as a respectable bar and night club owner." Kai greeted.

Junior scoffed from behind the bar. "Is that supposed to be a trick question?"

Kai smiled smugly as he and Jaune walked up to the bar and sat down. "Two waters please." Kai asked.

"Woah, woah. Who's this?" Junior asked suspiciously.

"Relax, Junior. This is Jaune, a friend. He's doing me a favour by helping me find some information."

"Um… Hello…" Jaune nervously greeted.

Junior looked away and went to get the two their drinks. "So, haven't seen you in a long time. What did the man and the girl want?"

"The usual: a chat, an offer, you know how it goes." Kai answered as Junior placed the two drinks on the counter. Kai picked his up and downed it in one go before looking back at Junior. "But I'm not here to talk about me. I'm here to get answers."

"And what makes you think I know any?" Junior asked.

"Come on Junior, you get people drunk in a shady part of town. I'm sure some of those individuals might accidently spill something while they're… Intoxicated."

"Well that depends… What you want to know?"

Kai gestured Jaune's drink and Jaune raised his hands letting Kai take it and down it in seconds. "Has anyone told you anything about random portals appearing in the kingdom?"

"Portals?"

"Yeah portals. Round, white holes that appear in the middle of the air."

"Sorry. The people here say some crazy things but nothing that crazy."

"All right…" Kai put his chin on his fist in thought. "Has anyone from Team Flare shown up here?"

"Team who?" Jaune and Junior both said simultaneously.

"Team Flare. Mostly wear red suits and ties, hair that looks a little like fire, you know a trying to look smart but it's actually goofy look."

Junior thought for a moment then sighed. "Well there was this one guy… Wait I'm thinking of something different."

"Come on Junior there has to be something you've heard I'm desperate!" Kai begged.

"Look I don't know what to tell ya kid, sorry."

"Sorry. Sorry. That's all anybody's told me today." Kai said angrily and upset slamming the key down. "You won't hear from me again. Consider our debt settled." Kai got up and started walking away, Jaune getting up quickly and following him.

"Kai wait!" Jaune shouted.

"Look Jaune it's over okay. You can head back if you want I need to think." Kai said.

"Listen to me!"

"If it's about me helping you with Weiss don't worry. I've dragged you around all day for no good reason, so I'll do you a favour as promised."

"Kai stop!" Jaune put his hand on Kai's shoulder.

"GET OFF ME!" Kai without thinking backhanded Jaune in the face knocking him onto the ground. Kai looked at Jaune and realised what he's done. "Oh Jaune. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-!"

"It's alright Kai. It's alright." Jaune repeated as he got up. "Look, I don't know how you're feeling right now. But you deserve to be upset right now, anyone would be in your situation. But you can't let it control you. You need to get through it, so you had a bad day. Big deal! I've had plenty of bad days, but no matter how bad they are and how long they last, if you stand up for yourself and keep trying… They will get better. And I'll be here to help."

Kai looked at Jaune before looking away breathing in and out a few times. He soon stopped and wiped his eyes with his sleeve before looking back at him. "I'm okay now, thanks."

"No problem. So, since we're done with today, how about putting in that good word for me?" Jaune asked.

"Look Jaune you can't rush this. Otherwise both of us will-"

"Hurry, close the door she's coming!" One of the bouncers from earlier said.

The two of them entered the club and closed the door behind them barricading it with their bodies.

"What are you two idiots doing?" Junior asked getting up from behind the bar.

The two bouncers talked over each other talking incoherently when a sudden explosion opened the door, blowing them away.

"Jaune I hate to break it to you, but we might not be done yet." Kai said nervously. And Jaune ran behind Kai as he pulled out a Poké ball.

Through the smoke casually walking was a familiar face… Yang Xiao Long.

"Guess who's back!" She greeted casually with open arms… As an arsenal of guns were aimed right in her face.

"… YANG!" Kai shouted surprised.

Yang opened her eyes and looked at Kai with similar shock. "KAI?!"

The room was in an awkward stalemate as frightened bear-headed DJ took the needle off a repeating record and retreated under a table.

* * *

 **So, how's this for a different approach. I wanted to make this different to the cannon, so that it wouldn't feel like I was just repeating stuff so I had Kai go off parallel to Team RWBY and added in Jaune for some extra development.**

 **Unfortunately the next chapter will be the end of this arc and will be the last one for some time, before this story goes on hiatus. But don't worry folks, I made sure that this story will end on a bang!**

 **So until then, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	28. Chapter 27: Boss battle

**Surprise! Since this story is going on hiatus, I've decided to release this last chapter early. I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

"Hold on a minute! You two know each other!" Junior declared.

"It's a long story." Kai said awkwardly keeping his eyes focused on the armed men pointing guns in Yang's face.

"Yeah, so could you define 'friend' for me?" Neptune said appearing behind Yang.

Junior groaned walking through his goons and straightening his tie. "Blondie, you're here! ... **Why**?"

Yang walked forward past Junior's men grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging him to the bar. "You still owe me a drink."

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho, what a woman..." Neptune said in a love-struck trance before noticing two similarly dressed twins near him. "'Sup."

Together they ' _harrumphed'_ while walking off with their noses in the air. "Whatever."

Kai looked at Neptune, then at Jaune who had a similar trance at the two ladies. He shook his head. "Why do I seem to be the only man who doesn't think with his third leg?" Kai said as he went to the bar with Yang and Junior.

"So Kai, mind explaining how someone like you knows a shady guy like Junior." Yang asked.

"Ladies first." Kai responded.

"All right then. I heard Junior had some information I was looking for, unfortunately he wasn't being co-operative and things got a little heated."

"A little!" Junior cried out. "You beat up every single member in the bar senseless! Then punched me out a window!"

"Wait a minute!" Kai interrupted. "That sounds awfully-" Kai snapped his fingers. "Oh, so you're _Sir_. You're a legend around here!"

"Oh really. Still, you need to answer me." Yang reminded.

"When I first got into Vale I was basically homeless for the first couple of weeks. Now I'm used to that normally but in a city like this I needed a place to stay. That's when Greninja came up with the idea of threatening a shady bar owner we heard about, I ended up saving his life and I lived here for a couple of days until Ozpin sent Ruby to pick me up."

"Wait, that's how you got into Beacon?"

"Ruby didn't tell you?"

"Well she did mention back at the beginning of the year about a secret mission Ozpin sent her on but we thought she was just joking."

"Guess I'm the punchline then. But I think we need to start talking about the Donphan in the room." Kai looked at Yang straight in the eyes. "Why are you even here?"

"I answered first last time, now it's your turn."

Kai looked down sadly. "I was trying to find a way home. Junior here was my last shot."

"Did he tell you anything?" Yang asked.

Kai looked back at her with a despondent expression. "What do you think?"

"I'm sorry." Yang said sympathetically.

"Don't be it was a long shot anyway."

Kai looked away when he felt Yang's hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, stuff like this takes time. You'll get somewhere eventually if you don't give up and keep moving forward." Kai gave a sincere smile as Jaune and Neptune looked on fascinated from the side.

"You've gotta teach me that move." Neptune awed getting a confused from Kai.

"What move?" Kai asked confused.

"Umm, the use sympathy to get a woman's attention move."

Kai's eyes widened and in less than a second his face went a bold shade of red. He gave a high-pitched groan and covered his face with his hat to hide his embarrassment.

"Tha- That's not my intention! Not to say that Yang isn't desirable I- I just don't harbour any romantic feelings for her!" He stuttered flustered.

"Aw, how cute." Yang teased.

"Man, you are a natural ladies man." Neptune complimented.

Kai pulled his hat down even tighter groaning even more loudly.

"You two still haven't explained what you're doing here." Jaune reminded.

"Sorry no can do! Top secret mission, classified sort of stuff!" Neptune interrupted.

"Word of advice; if you're on a secret mission you shouldn't blab to people that you're on a secret mission." Kai pointed out having recovered from his incident. "Because now you have to tell us about it or we'll start blabbing about it to everyone at school." Neptune went to say something when he gaped realising how much Kai knew. Kai laughed to himself smugly before turning to Yang. "Well?"

Yang sighed knowing she couldn't get out of it. "We're going after the White Fang."

"Is that it?" Kai deadpanned.

"Wait you're not surprised at that?!" Neptune said confused.

"Honestly after what happened with the docks it's perfectly understandable, I'd be surprised if you hadn't considered it."

"So that's why Weiss blew me off when we went to the CCT!" Jaune declared.

"No she blew you off because she's not interested in you, the fact she had something important to do was just extra."

Jaune turned away. "Some wingman you are."

Kai shrugged. "So back on topic, I'm guessing you're here to see if Junior has any info on them."

Yang smiled. "Well I didn't come here for the company."

"Well I'll leave you to it." Kai said getting up from his seat.

"You're leaving?"

"I told you, Junior didn't have what I was looking for. I'm done, come on Jaune." Kai started to leave with Jaune slowly following him.

Yang looked at Kai leave then looked back at Junior. "Don't move." Junior chuckled until Yang narrowed her eyes then he gulped nervously. Yang got up from her seat and quickly stood in front of Kai. "Hold on a minute."

"Look Yang-"

"Upupup!" Yang interrupted. "Look we kind of didn't want to involve you in this earlier but now that you're here why don't you lend us a hand?"

"Yang don't take this the wrong way but what would I have to gain from staying here?"

"Well we know that Team Flare are here, and they're working with the White Fang so if we stop the White Fang maybe we'll find out what Team Flare are up to… And how they got here."

Yang gave Kai some time to think and soon a smile plastered his face as he walked back to the bar with some swagger in his step.

"Change of plans Jaune! You can head back if you want but I have a felling that if I keep going tonight I might just get somewhere."

Jaune looked on nervously as Yang went to the bar beginning her interrogation. He and Neptune nervously looked at each other.

"You too afraid to leave alone too?" He asked.

"I didn't want to say it in front of her… But yeah." Neptune answered.

"This is pretty tense isn't it?"

"You're telling me, I was dragged along by Sun. Speaking of I wonder how his part of the plan's coming along?"

* * *

Meanwhile in another part of the city three fingers traced three white scratch marks on a wall. A feminine figure wearing a black bow peaked around a corner seeing a young couple of horned faunus ushered into a building by a bearded man.

"This is it." Blake said turning to Sun.

"You sure?" Sun asked causing Blake to glare at him. "Y'know, I'm just gonna take your word for it."

Blake walked forward and unfastened her bow, as she and Sun entered the building.

"New recruits keep to the right." A White Fang member said as Blake and Sun entered a hallway filled with cases.

"I don't get it." Sun said as he held a White Fang mask in his left hand. "If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"

"The masks are a symbol. Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters." Blake answered.

"Grimm masks… That's kind of dark."

"So was the guy who started it." Blake put on her mask and went ahead.

"Always sunshine and rainbows with you…" Sun said quietly as he put on his mask and followed her.

The two of them entered a room with a stage at the end. Large number of new recruits were on the right and an even larger number of White Fang members on the left and on the balconies. Blake and Sun walked forward before stopping amidst the crowd looking at the stage.

A lieutenant paced on the stage in front of a large banner with the White Fang's symbol in red. Unlike the regular members he could be distinguished by his mask covering his whole face as well as tattoos on his exposed arms

"Thank you all for coming." He greeted. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for, for so long!"

The sound of shoes and a cane signalled the arrival of the so-called special comrade; Roman Torchwick… Much to the protests of the crowd.

Torchwick waved back at the crowd mockingly. "Thank you, thank you!" As he did the same woman who knocked out Kai who Torchwick referred to as 'Neo' appeared from behind the sheet. "Please, hold your applause!"

A female faunus with antlers pointed at Torchwick. "What's a human doing here?"

"I'm glad you asked, 'Deerie'! Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... Are the _worst_." Torchwick saluted himself as an example. "Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, _killed_!"

Sun leaned closer to Blake. "Is he going anywhere with this or..."

" _But_ , before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I _all_ have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms!" As Torchwick spoke some of the recruits in the crowd began cheering for what he had to say and soon most of them had changed their minds about him. "Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life!" The crowd cheered as Blake and Sun shared a look. "And they're all _pests_ that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room."

Torchwick snapped his fingers and the banner was pulled back revealing the very same Atlesian Paladin Kai had seen in the city that day. Only not a hologram and with the White Fang's symbol painted on one of its arms. The crowd cheered even louder as Bake and Sun looked at each other.

"Uh, that's a big robot." Sun murmured concerned.

"How did he get that?" Blake asked.

"As some of you may have heard, this right here-" Torchwick tapped the metal with his fist. "Is Atlas' newest line of defence against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my employer, we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, 'hit the shelves'. But wait that's not all!" Torchwick clapped his hands and from the side entrance came Team Flare grunts pulling in a large square object covered in a sheet… That was making sounds.

"Woah. It's those Team Flare guys." Sun stated.

"I'm more concerned by that thing they're bringing in." Blake whispered back.

Torchwick stepped forward. "May I present to you my fine felines, hounds and whatever else you may be… Our secret weapon!" Torchwick gestured at the object and the grunts pulled the sheet off making the new recruits (Blake and Sun included) gasp.

The object turned out to be cages, stacked in rows and columns each containing its own Pokémon of varying shapes, sizes and species. Some that looked like: snakes, mongooses, crabs, birds, trash bags, key rings, ice cream and more were just a few of the many extraordinary animals on display.

"These my new comrades are Pokémon short for pocket monsters. Why are they called that?" The grunts threw a Poké ball each into the air and out came Golbats making the crowd gasp again making Torchwick smirk. "These mysterious creatures were once hidden, isolated from the rest of the world. Hunted and abused for their out of this world strength… Sound familiar."

The crowd began cheering and chanting as Sun and Blake looked at each other seriously.

"This is bad." Blake cautiously whispered.

"I know right! The guys lying through his teeth, we know Pokémon aren't from here but he's just making stuff up to rally the crowd." Sun complained.

"With new Atlas weaponry and an army of Pokémon, who knows how much damage the White Fang can do?"

Torchwick carried on talking. "Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?"

Blake turned to Sun. "We need to get out of here."

"Will all new recruits please come forward." The lieutenant asked and the large group began walking forward trapping Blake and Sun.

"Welp!" Sun deadpanned as the two were pushed forward with the crowd.

* * *

Back at the club Junior slammed a cup down and he pressed his hand against his head as Yang and Kai stood in front of him.

"I don't know!" He moaned.

"How can you not know?" Yang asked annoyed.

"I haven't talked to him! I haven't even _seen_ him since the night you first came in here."

"Well that's not technically true is it?" Kai reminded.

Junior groaned. "Did you have to bring him back here, he was just about to leave my life forever."

"Be honest Junior, I'll know if you're lying." Yang threatened.

"I am being honest! The last time I saw him he asked my men for a job. He paid up front, I lent him my men, and none of them ever. Came. Back." Junior took another drink from his glass. "Hell! If it weren't for Kai here, I'd be six feet under right now."

Neptune rushed over. "So where did they go?"

Jaune soon followed. "Yeah! Where. Did. Theeey?"

Junior looked blankly at the two boys in silence. "What kind of stupid question is that? They never came back! Who even are these guys?"

Yang pushed the two of them away with her hands. "Don't worry about them; worry about _me_ if I don't get what I want!" Yang said with authority making the two boys stand to attention.

Kai put his arm on the table and leaned on it. "Come on Junior, when I was here people were spouting gossip every night. And you're really telling us that you haven't heard anything about any of the things I've-" Yang elbowed Kai. "We've asked."

"I already told you everything! Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them, which is _something I can relate to!"_ Junior looked at his own men who were standing around mumbling.

Yang turned from the bar and walked away. "Come on, Neptune." Neptune followed with his hands in his pockets as Jaune leaned over Kai's shoulder.

"So, are we finally-?" Jaune began to say.

"Go ahead." Kai deadpanned making Jaune quickly chase after the others. Kai slowly got up and looked Junior in the eye. "Thanks for letting me stay here for a couple of nights, I mean that sincerely." Kai started walking away.

"You know, I might not know something now. But my offer still stands; you work for me and delve back into some old business practices… You might find what you're looking for."

Kai ignored Junior and carried on walking. "I think I'll pass. Thanks." Kai quickly caught up with the rest of the group as they made their way out.

"We get everything we need?" Neptune asked.

"Well, we got everything we _can_. Hopefully the rest of the team is having better luck." Yang answered.

"You know maybe after seeing me bravely volunteer to help, Weiss might see something more in me." Jaune hoped.

"Are you still going on about that?"

"You think this is bad, I've been listening to it the entire day." Kai complained. "Still I doubt anyone else is having it any worse."

* * *

Meanwhile Blake and Sun were experiencing something worse. Stuck between the crowds of misguided new recruits marching onto a stage with Torchwick, his triple-flavoured assistant, a giant mech, and a caged army of alien pets.

"What are we going to do?" Sun whispered.

"I'm thinking." Blake replied.

Sun looked at the stage where Torchwick was standing with Neo leaning on the robot smoking his cigar and laughing. Suddenly his attention was focused on Sun and Blake and he began frowning.

"He sees us." Sun warned.

Torchwick threw away his cigar and began walking towards them, Blake looked to the side to see a junction box on the wall.

"He can't see in the dark." Blake said before quickly pulling out her weapon. She transformed it into a pistol shooting the box and making the whole building go dark.

"Don't let them get away! Urgh!" Torchwick shouted into the darkness.

"Sun! The window!"

"Stop 'em!"

The sound of a machine powering up was the last sound heard as Blake and Sun crashed through a window into the dead of night. They began running but soon the wall of the building was smashed apart by the Paladin. The two faunus jumped onto the rooftops and soon found themselves being chased through the city's streets.

"So you wouldn't happen to have… Oh I don't know… Some form of backup?" Sun questioned while jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"On it!" Blake responded, pulling out her scroll and putting it to her ear.

* * *

Just outside of Juniors night club Kai, Yang, Neptune and Jaune were standing around discussing their next move.

"So now what?" Kai asked.

"Now we wait. The plan was to meet here at the end of the day." Yang answered.

"So how long are we talking? Minutes? Hours?" Jaune concerningly asked.

"Chill out dude. Knowing Sun, he'll be coming here any minute now." Neptune comforted.

A loud buzzing sound went off and Yang got out her scroll.

"It's the group call." She told everyone as she joined the call.

 _"_ _ **Everyone! If you can hear me we need back-**_ _"_ Blake said across the line.

" ** _HEEEELLLLP!_** " Sun yelled cutting Blake off.

"What the he-" Kai began to say.

" ** _They got a robot, and it's big, really big!_** "

"A giant robot?" Jaune repeated confused.

" ** _That Torchwick guy's in it! But not like, it didn't eat him- he's like controlling it or something!_** _"_

"Where are you guys!" Yang asked.

"HURRYYYY!" Sun shouted in the distance as he, Blake and the Paladin ran across the street.

"I think that was them-" Neptune deadpanned.

"Yeah I got it!" Yang quickly put on her mirror shades and got on top of a yellow motorcycle with superchargers at the side of the engine.

"You can't just steal a motorcycle!" Jaune cried out.

Yang put on a yellow helmet and revved the engine as Neptune sat down behind her putting his goggles over his eyes. "It's not stealing if it's mine."

Jaune and Kai both went wide-eyed and Kai wolf-whistled. "That is a sweet looking ride."

"Thanks, but it only seats two, and we're in a hurry so- later!" With that Yang rode off making Neptune hold on for dear life.

Without hesitation Kai got out his scroll and started typing something. "Jaune call the police, I have a feeling that this won't go down without some collateral damage."

"Why can't you do it? You have your scroll out." Jaune asked.

"Kind of using it for something more important." Kai finished typing and put the scroll away. After a few moments a loud sound was heard in the distance as a locker crash landed in front of them, opening up to reveal Kai's gauntlets.

"You're not seriously going after them, are you?" Jaune asked concerned as Kai quickly put on his gauntlets and twisted the glass dome on both of them so they glowed orange.

"Sorry Jaune but if Torchwick is in that thing then maybe he can get me some answers. It's worth a shot." Kai slammed the locker door shut and began running ahead as fast as he could.

"You recognised that thing, though right?! That was the same robot that was shown off before and that's designed to defend a kingdom from… Well EVERYTHING!"

Kai stopped and looked back at Jaune with a smirk. "I know. But that doesn't mean I can't try to beat it, right?" He grabbed a Poké ball from his belt and threw it up in the air where it opened with a bright light.

* * *

Blake and Sun were now jumping over a highway continuing to flee by falling onto the busy road on top of moving cars. The Paladin quickly caught up leaping onto the road and literally charging through the traffic.

"Woah!" Sun awed before jumping on another vehicle in front of him.

Blake and Sun continuously jumped from one vehicle to another keeping them ahead of Torchwick much to his frustration, as Yang caught up.

"We've gotta slow it down." She said to Neptune.

"Got it." He replied getting up and grabbing his weapon from his back.

The Paladin's sensors spotted them and Torchwick began crashing into the cars on the road sending them flying at the pair.

"Hold on!" Yang warned.

"Uh-oh. Woah!" Neptune yelled as Yang swerved to avoid the incoming traffic leaning her bike to the side. She kept darting left and right when a car flying at her was suddenly directed away by an orange laser. Yang got her bike back on two wheels and she and Neptune looked behind to see Kai had caught up to them, riding on top of Talonflame.

"You better be thankful!" Talonflame yelled making Neptune gape.

"This traffic is a nightmare." Kai joked.

"Is now really the time for jokes!" Neptune shouted.

"Probably not." Kai answered. Before his glowing eyes flashed. "Look out!" Kai fired another laser knocking away another vehicle as Yang quickly swerved.

"We need to get closer!" Yang ordered.

"Already on it!" Talonflame added.

Kai aimed his gauntlet at the Paladin and Neptune pulled out his weapon, a rifle of some sort and began shooting blue electric sparks, while Kai added in his burning lasers. The attacks exploded on contact making the Paladin jerk and warning alarms sound inside the robot.

Kai crouched on Talonflame. "I need an opening!"

"Kinda hard to get you one- WHEN YOU'RE ON MY BACK!" Talonflame berated.

"Don't worry. I got this." Neptune said confidently as he spun his gun reconfiguring it into a Naginata with a blue glowing blade. He twirled it around before jumping in the air making the blade open up and diving onto the Paladin stabbing it in its right shoulder, leaving Neptune stuck.

Further ahead Blake and Sun jumped on another set of vehicles before looking back at Neptune on the robot.

"Neptune, hang on!" Sun said as Neptune started flailing around, the Paladin trying to shake him off. Sun got ready to use his semblance when Blake pointed ahead of her.

"Look!" She pointed out.

Neptune had managed to slow the Paladin long enough for Talonflame to catch up, as he flew just behind the machine.

"You sure about this?" Talonflame asked.

"Not particularly but it's the best idea I've got." Kai answered. Kai breathed in and out calming himself before firing his fist at the robot and getting a grip on it, he pulled his arm back and he started getting dragged through the air toward his gauntlet hand, landing on top of the machine bouncing before getting a firm grip. "Woah- oah!"

"Kai!" Talonflame shouted before Kai got steady and turned to his Pokémon with a thumb up making Talonflame give an almost unnoticeable sigh of relief. "My turn! **Flame Charge!** " Talonflame lit himself on fire and rammed into the machine's leg making it lurch backwards throwing Neptune off.

"WAAAHH!" He screamed as he fell off the road.

"Talonflame-!" Kai shouted.

"I know! I've got him!" Talonflame answered back quickly flying off towards Neptune to pick him up.

Kai got his balance and hovered his right gauntlet over the hatch of the Paladin and fired a burning laser at near point-blank range letting him begin to cut his way into the cockpit. Torchwick looked above him and saw orange sparks making him scowl. The Paladin was now entirely focused on shaking Kai off, making Kai stop his attempts at cutting the robot and forcing him to hold on for dear life.

"Woah! Wah! Hey! For the love of Arc-! E-! Us! Stop this crazy-!" With a final shake Kai was flung forwards into the air, spiralling out of control. "WAAAH-!"

"I've got him!" Sun declared as he jumped into the air catching Kai in his arms as the two landed on another vehicle. "See I knew Kai should have been involved. You okay man?"

Kai just inhaled and exhaled at a rapid rate as if he was having a panic attack before grabbing tight hold of Sun. "That was crazy!" He quickly spat out.

"Sooo… You are alright?"

Kai just continued hyperventilating as Blake looked at him with concern.

" ** _Blake I'm in position!_** _"_ Ruby interrupted over Blake's scroll. Meanwhile ahead of the traffic Weiss flipped onto the road and raised her sword in front of her before stabbing the road freezing it over. The Paladin ran at her but was too late to avoid the slippery surface causing it to fall on its side and slide off the road onto the ground below. Blake, Sun, Kai (still in Sun's arms) and Yang caught up with Weiss and Yang began taking her helmet and glasses off as Weiss looked at Kai baffled.

"Kai?! What are you doing here?!" Weiss asked.

"It's… A long story…" Kai said as he started to recover and slow down his breathing.

"Ruby's in position! Let's go!" Blake said charging off the road soon followed by Weiss.

Kai's eyes widened. "Sun, I know what you're thinking but maybe we should." Sun began running ahead. "No-! No-! No-! No-! No-! No-! No-!" Sun jumped off the edge. "AAAAHH!" Kai screamed as he and Sun fell to the ground facing the giant mech along with the girls and Ruby.

"Kai?" Ruby said confused. "Why are you-?"

"LONG STORY!" He shouted when Sun finally let him go and he stood up.

A whoosh of wind was heard and soon Neptune stood beside the group along with Talonflame.

"Took you long enough." Sun commented.

"It would have been faster if this wimp didn't scream and squirm the whole way!" Talonflame complained.

"What do you expect after going from zero to sixty like that?!" Neptune argued.

"I can relate." Kai groaned.

The sound of the Paladin getting closer caught the groups attention and they looked on as it approached them.

"Think we can handle it?" Neptune asked.

"Uh, yeah!" Yang answered confidently.

"But to be sure…" Kai cautiously grabbed another Poké ball from his belt. "Lucario!"

Kai opened the ball and Lucario came out. "Master, you seemed distressed. What seems to be-?" Lucario soon noticed the giant robot and closed his eyes letting him see Torchwick's red antagonistic aura from within chuckling and smirking. "… I see."

The Paladin began walking slowly towards them and the group of nine readied themselves.

" **Freezerburn!** " Ruby ordered.

Ruby shot herself back and Blake jumped to follow her. Noticing this Sun and Neptune quickly followed as Kai looked at his Pokémon and the three nodded before jumping back as well leaving Weiss and Yang.

Weiss spun in place and Yang jumped into the air. Weiss stabbed the ground covering it in ice like she did on the road and Yang readied her gauntlets firing a shot from point blank on the ice when she fell creating a thick layer of mist.

The Paladin shot lasers from sensors all over its mechanical body that began scanning the surrounding area. Several blurs ran past the robot making it temporarily stand in place to check the area before firing blue bolts at Yang and Weiss, the two managing to dodge. The sensors picked up something from the right and the robot immediately turned and fired just missing Blake and Yang. Immediately after Ruby charged through the air slicing the robot with a loud clang. As she skidded back Kai and Lucario charged directly at the Paladin raising a fist either covered in fire or fighting spirit and the two delivered a simultaneous punch on one of its feet making an explosive sound. The Paladin raised its foot and Kai and Lucario managed to jump back to Ruby avoiding getting stomped.

Ruby cocked her weapon. " **Checkmate!** "

Blake jumped down to the ground and Weiss ran forward as the two girls ran straight ahead. From behind the Paladin Sun and Neptune grouped up.

"Come on Neptune!" Sun ordered as he ran forward.

"Right!" Neptune responded joining him.

Blake and Weiss perform a series of precise blade strikes in unison slashing at the robot's legs making it step back. From behind Sun spun his staff before slamming it multiple times against the back of the left leg, Neptune took the right holding the tip of his naginata to the ground before swiping it upwards against following up with two horizontal swings. Weiss jumped into the air and stabbed one of the laser sensors before jumping away off a glyph. Sun hunched his back and Neptune leaped off it stabbing one of the sensors on the back.

The Paladin raised its right leg above Blake and left arm above Neptune and Sun. Weiss summoned a glyph under Blake thrusting her backwards to avoid getting stomped, as the fist came crashing down Talonflame barged into it with Flame Charge knocking it off course saving the two partners. Torchwick scowled before quickly picking up the left arm and using it to catch Talonflame in the air tightly holding him in his hand.

"GRAUGH!" Talonflame cried out as he felt his body getting crushed.

"Talonflame!" Kai cried out. "Lucario get him out of there! Try to pry away it's fingers!"

Lucario leaped into the air. "At once!" Lucario jumped across the machine's body quickly getting on top of the arm. "Don't worry Talonflame. I'll get you out."

"Shut up!" Talonflame yelled. "I don't need your help!"

"But-!"

"But nothing! The day I lose to a knockoff Steel type, is the day- I THROW IN THE TOWEL!" Talonflame screamed as his body combusted into flames making the metal hand start to glow red.

"Can't you shoot that thing open?" Sun asked back on the ground.

"He's too close, I can't get a clean shot." Ruby answered looking through her sniper scope.

Kai watched in silence, through his perception he saw the heat from Talonflame's fire spreading through the metal hand. Or more accurately-

"Talonflame's heat is making the metal vibrate!" Kai exclaimed.

"And that means?" Sun asked.

"Vibrating molecules have weaker intermolecular forces, which means the metal is stretching out, which means-"

Before Kai could finish Talonflame's wings began to glow metallic.

" **Steel Wing!** " Talonflame thrusted his wings upwards smashing the metal hand apart as he flew triumphantly.

"Impressive." Lucario commented.

"Hmph! Like I'd lose to a weakling in a tin ca- AH!" Talonflame was punched through the air by the Paladin's in tact fist before shaking its damaged arm violently to try and shake Lucario off. However, Lucario are naturally designed to cling onto rough mountain edges so Lucario was able to hold on quite easily and began generating a ball of aura in his right paw.

" **Aura Sphere!** " Lucario shot the attack at the body of the Paladin creating a blue explosion that did good damage making Torchwick growl from inside. "It will take more than some shaking to remove me." The Paladin jerked suddenly and began running away, Lucario held on as it reeled back its arm and smashed it through one of the concrete pillars supporting the road, crushing Lucario between a rock and a hard place sending him flying off.

"LUCARIO!" Kai screamed as he saw his family fly through the rubble. Talonflame quickly flew by and caught Lucario in his talons looking down at his injuries.

"You idiot…" He murmured.

Torchwick didn't stop his assault as the Paladin uncovered a missile hanger from its shoulders firing a barrage at the group.

"Oh no!" Kai shouted.

"Move!" Ruby warned.

Ruby and Yang shot themselves backwards, Sun and Neptune ran in comedic fashion, Blake and Weiss flipped backwards continuously and Kai's perception let him identify where the missiles would land ahead of time and managed to get closer to the Paladin.

"You'll pay for hurting my family Torchwick!" Kai aimed his gauntlet at the Paladin's feet and turned the dome on his right gauntlet turning it light blue. " **Freezing Laser!** " Kai shot a blue laser at the robot's feet freezing them in a thick layer of ice. Kai smirked before the feet immediately broke out and began moving forward. Kai gulped as Torchwick began firing bolts down at Kai, Kai turned and began to run, his perception letting him avoid the shots without seeing them though they were getting closer. A pair of bolts landed just behind him catching him in the shockwave sending him flying forward before rolling across the ground.

Kai quickly got to his feet but was too late as the Paladins weapons were locked on. Kai raised his gauntlets to brace himself as a blue aura projectile flew through the air and exploded against the Paladin driving it back. Kai looked behind him to see Lucario riding Talonflame, with Lucario raising his paw as a way to show Kai he was okay. Kai tipped his hat at them as the Paladin recovered and used its sensors to lock onto Talonflame and Lucario, they fired blue bolts at the two and Lucario jumped off Talonflame and Talonflame divebombed to avoid the attack. The Paladin immediately shot another barrage of missiles at Kai as he used his perception to scan them, when a gold light appeared from behind him and landed on the ground beneath his feet creating a golden glyph made of gears with white roman numerals.

"Huh?" He questioned.

"Don't run. Shoot them down!" Weiss suggested.

"Are you mad?!"

"Trust her!" Ruby assured as golden clock hands appeared on the glyph, spinning quickly before the glyph's energy surrounded Kai.

Kai suddenly felt his senses being heightened either more and he quickly locked onto the missiles. " **Makeshift: Ice Shard!** " Kai began firing a barrage of icicles out of his gauntlet at a rapid pace similar to a minigun. The icicles quickly made contact with the explosives making them detonate early, lighting the sky in a fiery explosion. "Woah…"

Three of Sun's light clones and Neptune blue blots passed Kai exploding against the Paladin as they hit driving it back.

" **Ladybug!** " Ruby ran forward with Blake following her as she shot forward slashing the robot's underside and skidding behind it. Ruby shot herself back at it and Blake charged at it, and the two attacked at the same time before dashing simultaneously before attacking circling each other. The Paladin fired two blue bolts at the girls from both sides as the girls jumped into the air getting eclipsed by the moon and slashing downwards as they fell managing to cut off half of the Paladin's left arm.

The two girls quickly escaped and the Paladin quickly turned only to see where they once stood. Yang didn't waste any time and jumped on the Paladin's back delivering explosive punches one after another making Torchwick shake violently from inside. The Paladin was unable to reach her with its remaining arm so it ran backwards through two concrete columns and leaving her embedded in a third. She began to fall and the Paladin backed away readying a punch, just before it punched her an orange blur flew past moving Yang out of the way causing the Paladin to only hit another column before turning at the combined group.

"Where's Yang?!" Blake cried concerned.

Talonflame suddenly flew beside them dropping Yang on her feet.

"Heh, thanks." Yang said.

Talonflame scoffed. "Thanks doesn't change the fact that me doing all this saving has prevented me from fighting!"

"Believe me Talonflame. Your sacrifice is very much appreciated." Lucario thanked.

"And it's not over yet." Kai said seriously looking over at the Paladin.

"What now?" Weiss asked.

"We could always try Bumblebee." Ruby suggested.

"We're gonna need something mega powerful to take this thing down!" Sun stated.

Kai put his chin on his fist in thought. _'Come on Kai think, think. Mega powerful, mega powerful, mega po-'_

Kai's snapped his fingers and a smile crept on his face. "Ohoho yeah! That'll work!"

The rest of the group looked at Kai concerningly. "What will work?" Ruby asked.

Kai walked forward looking back at Lucario. "Lucario, we're doing the thing."

"The… Thing?" Lucario asked confused.

"Yeah-" Kai pulled down his sleeve revealing his mega ring. "The thing."

Lucario's eyes lit up and he began to laugh. "Oh, that thing." He said walking forwards.

Talonflame grunted. "Show-off's."

"Mind telling us what's going on?" Neptune asked.

"Let's just say that up until now, we've been going easy on you. Now… Kai's gotten serious."

The group all looked at Talonflame with shocked looks then at Kai.

"Hey Weiss!" Kai shouted getting her attention. "Remember when I told you Lucario was arguably my strongest Pokémon? And I told you that the reason for that was a story for another day?"

"Yeah…" Weiss answered hesitantly.

"Well today is that day!" Lucario stood in front of Kai nodding to show he was ready, the trainer and Pokémon looked on at the intimidating machine in front of them. "All right Torchwick! I've had a long, unproductive, and stressful day. So, if you come out of that thing and answer my questions I MIGHT show a little mercy, what do ya say?"

The Paladin just moved closer and pulled back its remaining fist.

Kai smiled. "Guess that's my answer then." Kai thrusted his left arm into the air and hovered his right index and middle fingers over it. " **Surpass evolution…** " Kai pressed the keystone making a pink light emanate from it as he punched the air in front of him. " **Mega Evolve!** "

A pink light started generating outwards from Lucario's chest before he straightened up and pulled his arms back getting surrounded in a pink cocoon of energy. " **MAX AURA!** "

The bright pink cocoon generated a harsh light and strong winds that made Team RWBY as well as Sun and Neptune brace themselves. From inside the Paladin Torchwick gasped before thrusting his fist forwards. Before the attack hit, the cocoon exploded outwards unleashing Mega Lucario crying out. A rainbow symbol signifying Mega Evolution appeared and the force was so powerful that it pushed the fist back and sent the Paladin back a couple feet. Mega Lucario smiled at this result.

"He- He transformed!" Weiss said in disbelief.

"Was this that mega evolution thing you told us about?" Yang asked.

"Lucario told me about it. But still-?!" Blake answered remembering what Lucario told her about his time with Korrina. "I don't believe it."

"Wow…" Ruby awed.

"Dude…" Sun commented in silence.

"Yeah dude, I know…" Neptune agreed.

"This right here. What you're about to witness…" Talonflame began to say. "This is the strength we Pokémon get when we and our trainer fight as one."

Kai looked on proudly. "All right Mega Lucario. Get ready!"

Mega Lucario got into a fighting stance. "I'll make this quick."

Torchwick from inside his machine looked on in absolute fear and surprise. He soon gritted his teeth and went to punch Mega Lucario like he did before. Big mistake.

" **Mega Lucario beat out it's punch with your own! Use Power-up-Punch!"** Kai commanded.

Mega Lucario reeled back his paw and tightened it into a fist, it began glowing with an intense orange aura as time seemed to slow down. Mega Lucario punched the approaching mechanical fist and it seemed to vibrate before exploding into shrapnel sending the Paladin flying back.

"No way…" Blake muttered in disbelief.

"With one punch. It would take me close to breaking point to even attempt doing something like that." Yang admitted.

Kai looked on proudly. "Excellent work Mega Lucario."

Mega Lucario remained silent glaring at the enemy in front of him.

The Paladin straightened itself and sent forward an array of missiles at Mega Lucario.

" **Jump into the air and intercept them with Bone Rush!** " Kai ordered.

Mega Lucario nodded and jumped high into the air. As the missiles approached he brought his paws together before separating them out creating a long bone made of aura. Mega Lucario gave a battle cry as the bone extended further and he performed a series of fast swings in the air easily smashing apart the entire missile assault.

" **Now aim for one of the legs!** "

Mega Lucario angled himself and fell down at a diagonal angle at high speed with aura flying past him. He landed on the ground before slamming the left leg with enough force to lift it off the ground before hitting it again with a second attack denting the leg and smashing it off the Paladin to the side. The Paladin fell to the ground unable to move or get up as Mega Lucario stared at it seriously.

"It's over." He muttered as he put his paws together creating a large mass of aura.

"All right Mega Lucario finish him off!" Kai commanded. " **Use Aura Sphere!** "

Mega Lucario cried out loudly as he fired from his paws an incredibly large ball of blue aura that moved so fast that it almost looked like a laser. In less then a second it made the Paladin explode into blue fire and debris as Torchwick fell out of it.

"Just got this thing cleaned…" He said sarcastically as he brushed himself off. He looked at Mega Lucario in horror as he had already readied another Aura Sphere in one of its paws.

"Farewell…" He whispered before firing the attack. Torchwick braced himself when Neo jumped in front of him shielding the attack with her umbrella. She hung her umbrella over her shoulder as Torchwick looked at the reunited group.

"Ladies. Gentlemen. Ice Queen."

"Hey!" Weiss complained.

"Always a pleasure. Neo if you would."

Neo bowed in front of everyone lifting her arm behind her, as Kai's eyes brightly flashed blue.

"Not this time!" Kai cried out as he fired his fist forward missing both Torchwick and Neo.

"You missed!" Blake pointed out.

"I didn't miss."

Blake and the others looked on confused when suddenly the area that the fist travelled through shattered revealing the real Torchwick and Neo. Kai's fist grabbed onto Torchwick and Kai pulled it back dragging him away.

"Neo!" Torchwick cried out.

Neo gave a concerned look and charged at Torchwick when a dark wave of aura launched her away. Neo got up and turned to see where the attack came from seeing Mega Lucario. She smirked and a blade appeared out of the tip of her umbrella as Mega Lucario looked on unemotionally.

" **Bone Rush!** " Mega Lucario generated his bone of aura and charged at Neo.

She parried the first hit to the side but Mega Lucario was able to swing it at her legs before she could react making her kneel. She tried to parry another hit but was too late getting knocked in the side of the head knocking her against a concrete pillar. She rubbed her head as Mega Lucario stood menacingly above her with his deep red eyes.

"I will give you a choice. Fight to save your boss and fail. Or run and live." Mega Lucario's voice was rough and serious, a sign that he shouldn't be messed around with. Neo looked at Torchwick surrounded on all sides by Huntsman and Huntresses in training then at Mega Lucario in front of her. She bowed her head sadly and waited as Mega Lucario exhaled. "A wise choice." Mega Lucario used Power-up-Punch shattering an illusion of Neo. Soon after a halberd was seen flying through the air with Neo on it before the hangar door closed as it flew off into the night.

"Well…" Kai started to say before thinking for a moment. "That went… Alright."

Everyone else around him was completely silent, taking in what just happened.

"Did we just… Win?" Ruby asked.

"I think so…" Sun answered hesitantly.

Mega Lucario appeared suddenly making most of the group barring Kai and Talonflame yelp. Mega Lucario remained silent before closing his eyes humming getting enveloped in a pink light and returning to normal. "I apologise if my actions in my mega evolved state frightened you. That was not my intention." He said as he opened his eyes.

"Did you-? How did-? What are-?" Neptune spouted out several unfinished questions in rapid succession.

"The short version. Lucario can undergo a process known as Mega Evolution. By using our bond, a keystone and a mega stone, Lucario was able to transform into a more powerful state, surpassing his regular evolutionary line." Kai explained.

"And you just had that hidden up your sleeve this whole time?" Yang asked.

Kai shrugged. "Basically. I only ever use it when I'm in a tense fight though, otherwise it's basically overkill."

"Master, I hate to interrupt but…" Lucario began to say. "What are we going to do about, _him_." Lucario gestured at Torchwick kneeling on the ground in a defeated position scowling. In his hands he looked at his scroll, broken by the fall. There was no backup this time.

"Well I guess now we turn him into the authorities and-" Ruby started to say.

"Two minutes." Kai interrupted.

"Huh?" The group gave Kai a confused look.

"Ruby did you really mean what you said when you told me you would help me get home?"

"Yeah I-"

"And Yang! Do you honestly think that Torchwick and the White Fang might know how Team Flare got here?"

"Well, maybe." Yang answered

"Then that's good enough for me. All I need is two minutes alone to ask my questions, after that we'll lock him up." The group looked at Kai unconvincingly. "Guys… I need this. Please." The group looked at Kai then at Talonflame and Lucario who both had serious and concerned looks.

Blake stepped forward. "Two minutes."

Kai nodded. "Thanks." Kai grabbed Torchwick by the collar and dragged him away. "Alright Torchwick we need to talk." Talonflame and Lucario looked at each other before following Kai.

"Oof." Torchwick said when Kai let go of him and he fell on his back. "A little rough aren't you Boy Scout."

"Look Torchwick, I know you have answers so it's in your best interests to start telling me them." Kai raised his gauntlet in Torchwick's face and a light blue light came out of the shutter as well as cold air.

"That's a little dark for you isn't it Boy Scout." Torchwick chuckled while Kai's face didn't change.

"All right, we'll do things the hard way." Kai fired a freezing laser at Torchwick's foot freezing it to the ground. Before he could react Talonflame landed on top of him and his Flame Body began to glow.

"What's it gonna be? The cold, or the HEAT!" Talonflame threatened.

Lucario's paw appeared in front of Torchwick's face surrounded in blue aura. "Need I remind you what we just did to your machine. We will get our answers out of you, one way _or_ _another._ "

Torchwick's smile faded as he saw the threatening glances of Kai and his family. "All right. All right. You got me. So, Boy Scout…" Torchwick looked deep into Kai's glowing eyes. "What do you wanna know so bad that it makes you wander across the moral grey line?"

"Team Flare. How did they get here?" Kai asked.

"What those grunts? Why they're just pawns in this game we're playing." Torchwick answered vaguely.

"Be more specific." Kai raised his gauntlet back at Torchwick's head.

"Let me put it this way then. Imagine that this is some sort of business merger. Me, Team Flare, those mutts at the White Fang we've all been conglomerates brought together under one big parent company."

"Okay. How did Team Flare get here?"

"Haven't the foggiest."

Talonflame's body grew hotter. "Don't lie to us!"

"I'm not! When I was brought in Team Flare was already here, in fact if I'm not mistaken they were the first group involved."

"The first?" Kai repeated in confusion.

 _'_ _How long has this been going on?'_ Kai thought.

"Okay then. This 'parent company'; who is it?"

"Can't say."

"Can't or won't?!" Torchwick answered.

"Whatever makes you sleep better at night."

Kai got ready to fire another laser at his foot when Lucario placed his paw in front of Kai.

"Wait. He's not answering out of arrogance." Lucario revealed as he looked into Torchwick's eyes. "He's not answering because he's afraid. The one in charge… They scare him."

"Scare him?" Kai repeated. Kai looked at Torchwick and could vaguely make out small tells in his face with his perception that showed his fear. "Talonflame back off."

"What?!" Talonflame argued.

"Just do it." Kai enforced. Talonflame growled but got off Torchwick. Kai raised his gauntlet with an orange dome and shot a burning laser freeing Torchwick from the ice. "Torchwick, give me a name."

Torchwick looked back up at Kai with a smirk. "Sorry no dice Boy Scout. But word to the wise. Get yourself out of here while you still can because when this is over, it doesn't matter how powerful your mutt is, no one will get in their way."

Kai sighed and turned away with Lucario. "Talonflame watch him." Talonflame did what he was told and perched himself on Torchwick's shoulders. Kai meanwhile walked back over to the group with Lucario, sighing.

"Did you get what you needed?" Yang asked.

"I got something. But right now, that just means more questions." Kai admitted looking down.

"If we may focus back on the task at hand I may have a suggestion on who we should send Torchwick too." Lucario admitted.

"You mean you don't want to take the criminal to the cops." Neptune said sceptically.

"While that would be an adequate solution, based on how it was his weapon that was taken. I think that it would be best if we send Torchwick to General Ironwood."

"Him! Are you sure about that Lucario?" Kai asked.

"I am quite sure. I imagine he must have several questions regarding how the White Fang got a hold of his machine. And since Torchwick is the supplier, he should hold the most answers."

"So where is the guy?" Sun asked.

"I heard he showed up in school with the students from Atlas academy." Weiss said.

"Plus, I met him there, so that's as good a place to start." Kai added.

"Okay so, who's moving him?" Ruby asked.

"Not it!" Sun declared.

"Don't worry, I've got this." Kai said turning to Talonflame. "Take our _guest_ to Beacon, give him to Ironwood or Ozpin when you're there." Kai clapped his hands and Talonflame smiled.

"Don't look down." Talonflame taunted. Before Torchwick had any say in the matter Talonflame used Fly to take him and Torchwick high into the air making him scream as he ascended rapidly.

"I'll give it ten minutes at the most before he gets there." Kai turned around. "So what next?"

The group remained quiet.

"… I know a good noodle place." Sun confessed.

Kai put his chin on his fist then smiled. "Sure, I could eat." He said walking ahead.

"Yeah, I could probably eat too." Yang admitted. "Taking care of that guy really worked up an appetite."

Weiss looked at where Torchwick was only seeing feathers remain. "Well I guess his fate is… _Up in the air._ " Weiss smiled at her own joke and Ruby giggled as Blake, Sun and Neptune walked away.

"No. Just… No." Yang deadpanned.

"What-! But, you do it."

"There's a time and a place for jokes."

"Was this not it?"

"No, it just wasn't very good." Yang admitted before following Blake.

"Well at least I'm trying." Weiss said following her teammates.

"I personally found the pun to be quite humorous." Lucario confessed following everyone else.

"Thank you."

"I wonder how people are gonna react when they find out about this?" Ruby pondered.

* * *

 **8 minutes 32 seconds later…**

 **-Night, Beacon Academy-**

Ironwood was pacing around Ozpin's office with a scroll in his hand while Ozpin sat at his desk pouring himself a drink of coffee. He had a feeling this was going to be a long night.

"Yes. Yes, I under… A full inquiry will be made into the matter. Yes. Yes, thank you." Ironwood hung up and groaned placing his scroll away. "Oz, how could this happen?"

"You tell me general, it was one of _your_ weapons that was stolen and used to rampage through the city." Ozpin said rationally.

"How can you be so calm about this?!"

Ozpin sighed. "James, it's over. There are reports of Huntsman taking it down."

"You're not the one dealing with the backlash! The damages! The injuries!" Ironwood yelled loudly in frustration and Ozpin poured him a drink which he took. "Thank you." He said as he poured liquid from a flask into it before drinking some of it. "And we still have no idea where the perpetrator is."

Suddenly there was a knocking sound.

"Did you hear something?" Ironwood asked.

The sound was heard again.

"I believe it's coming from outside." Ozpin noticed.

A rapid and violent series of knocks echoed through the room and Ozpin and Ironwood looked around to see Talonflame's upper body pecking the glass from outside.

"What even is that?!" Ironwood recoiled.

"That would be Talonflame. Another one of Mr Emblem's Pokémon, would you do me a favour and open the window to let him in?" Ozpin explained.

"You can't be serious!" Ironwood exclaimed.

"Well, you are already standing up." Ozpin said with a smile.

Ironwood tightened his fist before relaxing and walked towards the glass, opening a large window that was big enough fit Talonflame's body.

"Are you the trigger-happy idiot who lost the giant robot?!" Talonflame asked.

Ironwood grunted. "What's it matter to you?"

Talonflame lifted his talons up and threw Torchwick into the room getting a surprised look from Ironwood and a smug look off Ozpin.

"He's all yours!" Talonflame said before flying off.

Torchwick groaned and got up on his knees eying down the two headmasters. "Just where are you getting your kids these days?"

* * *

 **And so concludes the 'Investigation arc'. I hope I made the fight with the Paladin exciting yet unique for my story, plus we get to see Mega Evolution in modern day, so that's a plus.**

 **However it is with sweet sorrow that I must announce at last the story going on hiatus. I appreciate everyone following me and the story and it's been a good 24ish weeks of posts but this is my stop.**

 **I may see you all again in the future but until then, this is farewell. But I hope to post an explanation as well as some behind-the-scenes info so be sure to look out for it.**

 **But until next time, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	29. 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

*Party popper sounds*

*Party blower sound effect*

At the time of me posting this, it will be one day prior to...

 **TRAINER TO HUNTSMAN'S ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!**

"Isn't that already in the title?"

Yes, but you have to announce it with a bit more pizazz- Wait! Wait! Wait! ...Kai?

Kai tipped his fedora. "Yep, Kai Emblem in the... text I guess?"

How are you here? You're a fictional character I created based on my experiences with Pokémon X!

Kai shrugged. "It is our birthday after all. Makes sense we show up to celebrate it."

We?

"Sup'!" Greninja leaped out. "Now this party can really get started!"

"Show some restraint Greninja." Aegislash chastised. "An anniversary is a prestigious event that should be celebrated with a certain degree of dignity."

"Come on sis. It's our birthday, we should get to have fun." Noivern added.

"It is time for us to celebrate the long-standing waft of our parfume!" Slurpuff declared.

"Perhaps we should have given our creator a warning of our arrival?" Lucario considered. "Then again, technically this is all a scripted sequence that he came up with in his head, and is currently writing dow-"

"WHERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER?!" Talonflame flew down in a rage. "We've been waiting long enough!"

It hasn't been that long. It's only been a couple of months.

"Just under six. And the story consecutively ran for just over six. It's poetic in a way." Lucario revealed.

"That is quite a long gap. I think we should at least get an explanation." Kai reasoned.

All right, all right, I hear you. Look I was gonna praise my followers, favourites and general readers first but there is an explanation for all this.

"Oh no." Greninja interrupted.

I haven't even said what it is yet.

"But I can guess. We're canned aren't we?"

Canned?

"We're expired, put out to pasture, went up to some farm up state in the country."

…Any of you know what he means?

"Not a clue." Kai answered.

"He never makes sense." Talonflame insulted.

"Greninja, please make your points clear if you're going to make a scene about it." Aegislash shook her handle.

"We've been cancelled!" Greninja exclaimed.

"Cancelled!" Noivern cried out.

"Isn't it a bit soon to be jumping to conclusions." Lucario reasoned.

"You may be smelling the wrong parfume Greninja parfume." Slurpuff suggested.

"Just put us out of our misery..." Greninja moped.

Greninja! The story! Isn't! Cancelled!

"I knew it! I knew- Wait it's not!"

No! In fact I've actually written two and a half chapters this week.

"So then what's with the delay's? And you better give a good answer." Talonflame growled.

Three reasons:

1\. Writer's block. It happens to us all and it sucks. But after six months and a couple personal bits of writing just for personal pleasure, I've got some mojo back. I don't know how long for, but it's back for now.

2\. University. I just started this year, and let me tell you, it's difficult. And after a long day I don't feel in the mood to write.

changes. Originally the next arc was meant to be the 'Mid-term exams arc' with a focus on the pressure and stress finally affecting Kai and his team. However not only was I forcing myself to write it, it wasn't up to my standards so I've scrapped it. I'll keep some bits of it which I'll use here and there, but that arc, not happening.

"Well I suppose that sounds reasonable." Kai stated. "Look don't stress yourself, in the end this story was made to make you and other like you happy, don't worry about putting things on hold for a bit."

"While a king is duty bound to lead and serve his subjects, in the end he is still a man. And a man should look after himself first and foremost. Do not stress yourself on behalf of us." Aegislash explained.

Thanks you two.

"I still have one question." Greninja interrupted. "You said before you've been writing chapters, so... what are they about?"

"And when do we get to see them?" Noivern added.

Good questions you two. The arc still has a couple of chapters to go, when it's complete I'll release them weekly like I did before. And that's how my story will continue. When I finish an arc I will post each chapter a week at a time until that arc is done. If I continue posting it's because I've finished the next arc, if I stop it's because the next arc is still in progress. This way I won't leave any of the readers stuck on a cliff-hanger for weeks or months on end.

Greninja rolled his front foot forward. "So when do we..?"

WHEN IT'S READY!

"Okay, okay, sheesh."

As for what it's about, let's just say the name of it's called... **'The Arrival arc'**

Slurpuff sniffed. "Mmm, what a mysterious parfume?"

"Is that all we're gonna get?!" Talonflame retaliated.

Yee of little faith.

"What do you mean?" Kai asked.

Well since it's the stories birthday, it's only right that I got a present ready... Who here likes RWBY character shorts?

"... I'll get the popcorn." Greninja offered.

Happy anniversary 'Trainer to Huntsman' and a big thank you to the fans new and old who've come along for the ride. Tell me what your favourite moments have been in the story so far this past year. Or don't I'm not the boss of you.

*Raises glass*

Here's to another year of creativity on this story, and who knows what else in the future ahead!

CHEERS!


	30. Navy Character Short

The calm mountainside of Vale. Barren, rough, and near lifeless.

The only recognisable sound was a nearby stream, flowing in-between two sides of rocky ground.

A crunch broke the silence, making nearby blackbirds flock away. Then another crunch, then another, and another.

A lone figure walked across the rocky wasteland, panting, exhausted and dirty. Their dark blue sleeveless minidress covered in dirt and dust, and their once black and white trainers, were now covered with a faded brown muk.

She panted catching her breath, presumably having walked for a significant amount of time. Her blue eyes lit up as she saw what she had hoped for. Water.

She ran. Her short raven coloured hair flailing in the wind, as she hurried to the edge of the riverbank. Getting on her knees she cupped her hands in the river and drank as much as she could, before cupping her hands again and splashing her face.

A lone blackbird remained on a withered tree, staring at the girl with intrigue.

The girl adjusted her collar and her tie before pulling a brown satchel from around her hip in front of her and began rummaging around it for something.

Then the ground crunched.

The girl continued rummaging.

The ground crunched.

The girl stopped, looking inside the bag, to get a better look.

The ground growled!

The girl gasped and looked to the distance. Crawling near her was a pack of Beowolfs, ready to kill.

The girl got up on two feet and narrowed her eyes frowning.

"…Just my luck." She put her left hand into a pouch on her red belt and pulled out… a Pokéball.

"Let's just get this over with." She smirked and threw the capsule in the air where it opened and released a bright light, the bird in the distance getting mesmerised.

The Pokémon in front of her was large and has a domed armoured shell on its back, resembling a chestnut. The armour is trimmed with red and green bands, with the green on the outermost edge and extended to the Pokémon's front where it was connected by a green breastplate. Its main body and shell were pale beige coloured from its chest to its tail, with green spiked over arms and white underarms. White fur on its chest and face, resembling a beard under a pink nose, which above that had a brown three-pointed patch of brown fur, connecting its face and helmet head.

"Chesnaught! Prepare for battle!" The girl commanded.

"NAUGHT!" The Pokémon cried.

A lone Beowolf leaped ahead of the pack, opening its jaw to take a bite out of the girl.

" **Chesnaught use Spiky Shield!** "

Chesnaught slammed his arms together, forming a round shield with spikes extruding from it.

The Beowolf collided with the shield impaling its body. It growled savagely, as the girl looked on unamused.

"Chesnaught… rip it apart." The girl snapped her fingers.

Smirking, Chesnaught began pulling his arms away, with the Beowolf being pulled from both sides as a result of being trapped on the spikes. With a powerful tug Chesnaught freed his arms, ripping the beowolf in two.

Seeing its brethren killed, the remaining Beowolfs charged forward as a united pack, staring trainer and Pokémon down, with a powerful bloodlust.

" **Chesnaught use Seed Bomb!** "

Chesnaught took a breath before spewing a barrage of seeds at the pack, exploding as they made contact with their front lines taking a couple out.

As the explosions subsided the remaining Beowolfs ran through the smoke biting Chesnaught's limbs. The girl remained calm as Chesnaught winced but stood firm.

"Shake them off."

Chesnaught began swinging his arms wildly knocking the Beowolf pack away whining, the two unfortunate members knawing on his arms merely used to soften the blow for the others.

" **Now finish them off! Use Hammer Arm!** "

Chesnaught's arms glowed orange with fighting spirit as he slammed them and the Beowolfs on the ground, cracking it and their skulls. As they faded away Chesnaught gave a battle cry as he was slugging and smashing the remaining Grimm like they were nothing.

"What a waste of time." The girl complained.

Unaware to the fact that one last Grimm was prowling up behind her. One that was unfortunately flung out of her line of sight.

It snarled, making the girl turn right before it pounced. Pulling her arms up instinctively she defended herself from a vicious slash, knocking her hard on the rocky ground.

Chesnaught turned around and cried in panic, running past the countless fading Grimm corpses, but didn't seem like he was going to make it.

The girl lay in pain, her arms bleeding with deep cut wounds, as the Beowolf lay over her ready to deal the killing blow, all she could do was close her eyes. Seeing the shadow of a mysterious, raven haired figure in her mind.

 _'_ _Damn it! Not like this! Please!_ '

The monster roared, as she prepared to take her last breath.

* _BANG_ *

A gunshot rang throughout the barren riverbank. The Beowolf fell to the side, falling into the river, where its corpse was dragged away.

The girl opened her eyes panting, realising she was still alive. She cautiously leaned up, turning her head to see Chesnaught finally arrive, exhaling in relief. He stared at her bloody arms and gave a cry of concern.

"It's just a scratch. It's nothing, considering you took all those bites. Even if they weren't very effective." The girl groaned as she got up. Tiny pebbles fell off her dirty clothes and scratched legs as she went to her satchel, lying where she previously stood.

She quickly rummaged around, pulling out a roll of bandages which she began to wrap around her arms. She heard whimpering coming from Chesnaught who seemed concerned with her safety and disappointed in himself.

"It's fine really. You got them all." She looked at Chesnaught with a disapproving look. "Now quit being a newly hatched and drink some water. You earned it big guy."

Chesnaught's face lit up as he ran to the river and clumsily began shovelling water into his mouth… and on his body… and the rocks. He grinned evilly and threw some directly at his trainer, soaking her.

"Hey!" She yelled, making him look away pretending he knew nothing about it. In response she looked away, going into thought on what it was that saved her.

Looking on in the background, was that same blackbird… that same… Crow.


	31. Chapter 28: The new face

**I'm back.**

 **For how long, I'm not certain, but I can gladly say that I have seven completed chapters of this new arc completed. I apologise for the wait but between losing my drive, and life getting in the way, it was best that I take a break for a while.**

 **But enough about that. Welcome back fans new and old as the 'Arrival arc' of Trainer to Huntsman begins!**

* * *

 **-Morning, Beacon Academy-**

 _"_ _if I'm not mistaken they were the first group involved."_

 _"_ _The one in charge… They scare him."_

 _"_ _Torchwick, give me a name."_

 _"_ _Did you get what you needed?"_

These memories were continuously circling inside of Kai's head. It was the morning after the incident with the Paladin, and Kai was currently spending his first lesson of the day in the library on a study period. He blankly stared at the pages in a textbook pinching the corner of one of the pages but not doing anything else with it. He was stuck in a trance.

 _'_ _I'm starting to think that my arrival here was more than a cosmic coincidence.'_ Kai thought. _'But still, I'm nowhere nearer to getting home, and now I know that something big is going on, with Team Flare playing no small part.'_

 _"_ _It's alright, stuff like this takes time. You'll get somewhere eventually if you don't give up and keep moving forward."_ Yang's words repeated in Kai's head.

 _'_ _Shame it's not that simple though… Is it?'_

Kai remained motionless trapped in his own melancholy when a shunt in front of him interrupted his train of thought.

"Kai! There you are!"

Kai looked up slowly and saw Jaune sitting down in front of him.

"Oh Jaune… Hey." Kai said unemotionally.

"… Are you feeling alright?" Jaune asked concerningly.

"I've had a rough night, and I've got a lot on my mind. What do you think?" Kai answered.

"Well about that night, it's been everywhere!" Jaune exclaimed putting his scroll in front of Kai.

Kai slowly picked it up and read a news article Jaune had opened.

 **Atlas military weapon sent on a rampage in Vale**

 **Just last night, Vale's citizens were rudely woken from their sleep as a new Atlas defence weapon rampaged through Vale's highway.**

 **The weapon in question an "Atlesian Paladin" was revealed to the public that same day by General James Ironwood, he has since commented that this attack was not an aggressive action taken by Atlas and that a full internal inquiry is going into finding out how the weapon was stolen in the first place.**

 **As for the perpetrator, it turned out to be none other than Vale's criminal underground kingpin: Roman Torchwick who has currently been imprisoned on one of Atlas' airships awaiting trial.**

 **Eyewitness accounts and images of the wreckage also reveal the insignia of the Faunus extremist group the 'White Fang'. The White Fang have been making their claim to Vale for quite some time now, being responsible for several Dust robberies but nothing this large scale. This is also making some believe that perhaps the White Fang and Roman Torchwick are working together in some fashion, though there is currently no hard evidence on that matter.**

 **It is a frightful thought that one of the kingdoms trusted allies would suddenly have their resources used to attack one another, and the Vale and Atlas council have been in heated talks over the incident. Only time will tell if the implications of last night go deeper, then a damaged highway.**

Kai finished reading the article and pushed the scroll back to Jaune.

"So?" Kai asked.

"So! You helped take that thing down! You helped bring in Torchwick, you're a hero to the city!" Jaune applauded.

Kai groaned. "Listen Jaune. I'm really not in the mood. Yesterday was a bust and now I've got more questions than answers. And as for all this hero talk, just stop. I'm not a hero: just a guy in the right place at the right time willing to do the right thing."

"But-"

"Excuse me gentlemen."

Kai and Jaune looked to the side to see Goodwitch standing over them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your revision but Professor Ozpin requires Kai immediately in his office." Goodwitch explained.

"Can I ask why?" Kai asked.

"I'm sure you already know the reason Mr Emblem." Goodwitch said seriously. Kai groaned and got up out of his seat.

"Very well." Kai said unemotionally following Goodwitch.

* * *

After a few minutes Kai and Goodwitch were inside of the elevator taking them to Ozpin's office. Kai had woken up a bit and was stretching in place.

"So… How are you today miss?" Kai asked.

Goodwitch remained silent and Kai just acted like he hadn't asked. The door opened and the two of them walked into the office to meet with Ozpin and Ironwood.

"Glynda. Kai. Good morning." Ozpin greeted.

"Well I wouldn't say it's good but it's something." Kai greeted. "Did Talonflame deliver the guy alright? He was still in one piece?"

Ozpin remained silent as Ironwood stepped forward.

"You do realise that your actions last night were illegal and reckless." Ironwood berated. "Civilians were hurt, property was damaged, relationships between-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa- hold on a second!" Kai interrupted. "Before you go pointing fingers let's not forget that you were the one who lost the weapon in the first place. All that damage, that was on you! Not me!"

Ironwood raised his fist and went to say something but sighed instead looking away shamefully. "Don't you think I know that?" Ironwood admitted. "I'm already dealing with the consequences of my negligence. And I doubt I will have to stop anytime soon, that is on me. And I do appreciate you helping to stop the Paladin. As reckless as it was, I can't argue with results." Ironwood turned back to face Kai. "But that still doesn't change the fact that what you did was illegal. You aren't a qualified Huntsman, you could have been killed or worse; killed others." Ironwood sighed. "Let's just be thankful that the Paladin was just a prototype."

"Prototype?" Kai repeated.

"Yes, a prototype. You didn't honestly think Atlas technology could be bested so easily. And besides, there was no way that criminal would have access to the completed version. In fact…" Ironwood stopped himself and Kai looked at him suspiciously.

"In fact, what?" Kai pressured.

Ironwood remained silent and Ozpin turned to face him. "James, I think we can trust Kai to keep silent on this matter."

Ironwood was hesitant but lowered his arms in a sign of acceptance. "A few months ago, after we had begun manufacture on the final Paladin designs a shipment of the prototypes was sent off into military storage."

"Let me guess. It disappeared during its trip, and you just tried to sweep the matter under the rug." Kai assumed.

"Actually, the shipment got there fine. At least that's what the records said." Ironwood looked down regretfully. "However, a few days ago before I left for Vale, I wanted to check the prototypes for myself so that my announcement to the public would be accurate. When I got there… There were dozens of Paladins unaccounted for."

"And you didn't think something was wrong." Kai judged.

"Of course I knew something was wrong. At first, I thought it was a data error, but on the same day I got here I was given a report telling me that the prototypes were missing. I've had my people look into it back at Atlas, and so we come to last night."

Kai crossed his arms and huffed. "I guess it wasn't your fault, you did what you could. But that still doesn't change the fact that you lost the weapon in the first place. And that says a lot."

"And what does that mean?" Ironwood asked defensively.

"Let's just say I've known someone like you. Someone so devoted to saving the world that they almost destroyed it." Kai said remembering Lysandre. "So, was this all you wanted to see me for Ozpin?"

"There is another matter." Ozpin looked at Ironwood. "James."

Ironwood stepped forward. "Last night, I became aware to another one of your Pokémon. It made me realise that I still have little to no knowledge on them. So, I ask that you could lend me them for a time to study."

Kai went to say something but stopped himself and took a breath in and out. He reached into his pocket and placed his Pokédex on Ozpin's desk.

"What is that?" Ironwood asked.

"It's a Pokédex. A visual database on all the species of Pokémon in the region I'm from. My six are on there, so it should give you everything you need and then some." Kai explained.

"I see." Ironwood said grabbing it and placing it in his pocket. "I will still need to evaluate your team in person at some point… But I suppose that can wait for now."

"You can leave now Kai. We've discussed what we need to discuss." Ozpin stated.

Kai exhaled. "Thank you." He walked towards the elevator and the door opened letting him stand in it. "Oh, one more thing before I forget." Ozpin and Ironwood looked at Kai with intrigue. "Torchwick… he isn't the head of this thing. There's someone else, and this someone… they've had Team Flare working for them longer than I've been here." The doors closed leaving the teachers in the room speechless.

"He doesn't know does he?" Ironwood asked alarmed.

"No, I don't think he does. But unless he makes it home, I doubt he'll rest until he finds out." Ozpin said seriously.

"So, shouldn't we do something? Like it or not his Pokémon, along with this Team Flare. In the wrong hands these creatures could-"

"James. Kai has been nothing but co-operative so far, we have no reason to suggest he has any malicious intent." Ozpin got up. "As for this Team Flare, I've already sent out someone to follow a potential lead. And they've already come back with a startling development."

"You have?! What development?! Who did you send?!" Ironwood looked desperately at Ozpin who calmly responded by slurping from his mug. Ironwood realised who Ozpin sent and groaned. "…You sent _him,_ didn't you?"

Ozpin said nothing as he continued to slurp.

* * *

 **-Morning, Vale mountainside-**

The city of Vale is a prosperous site, where almost anyone from anywhere can easily find themselves at home and can live in peace. Ironic that the kingdom the city was named after was anything but.

While there were some exceptions like the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall, the kingdom of Vale was primarily made up of steep mountains. These high-altitude areas with: rough terrain, thin air, and little to no vegetation made it difficult for even the Grimm to survive. And while this provided an excellent natural defence against the creatures of darkness, it also guaranteed that anyone unfortunate enough to wind up far away from the cities borders was, as people in the Pokémon world called it, 'Mandibuzz chow'.

And one such fellow was that unfortunate.

The man had greying black, spiky hair, that almost resembled feathers. His dull red eyes scanned the environment and he huffed grabbing a flask in his right hand, decorated with three rings, two on the ring finger and one on the index. He began gulping its contents down, showcasing the stubble along his jawline along with the cross necklace that clinked when it pushed against the liquid in his throat. He finished his drink with a sigh as the wind blew his red tattered cloak, across his long-tailed grey dress shirt, and black dress pants and shoes.

"I needed that." He stated, when a pinging sound came from his coat. Pulling a scroll out of his pocket, he checked to see he had received a message.

 **Ozpin: The trainer's starting to ask questions, he shouldn't be asking. How goes the search?**

The man hastily replied.

 **Qrow: Trails growing cold. May have to make contact with our unexpected arrival sooner than we planned, if we're going to get back on it.**

Qrow didn't have to wait long for a response.

 **Qrow: Do whatever needs to be done. However, the arrival takes top priority.**

Qrow put his scroll away and nodded to himself. He looked below him, seeing a rising pillar of smoke in the distance. All was quiet, as all attention was on the rising smoke.

A bird call cried out. A random crow began flying through the sky, its sights set on the smoke's origin. The bird glided through the air, its streamline position allowing it to travel quickly, as it began descending. Hovering over the rocky terrain, the birds shadow trailed along the ground before disappearing, getting consumed by a larger area of shadow. Cast by a series of large, pointy rocks littering the ground. Whether they fell from higher ground, or had existed undisturbed for centuries was unknown, but they provided _some_ shelter, and _some_ defence. The crow flew behind one of these rocks, disappearing from view, as Qrow magically appeared walking from the other side.

He sniffed the air, smelling the fresh scent of burning as he reached the source of the smoke; a smouldering campfire. Light embers flaked off the burnt wood as Qrow approached, hovering his hand over the low light.

"Guess I just missed her…" He looked around, the light from the fire faintly dispelling some of the shadows from the surrounding rocks.

Qrow was ready to leave when he heard a quiet bashing sound. He cautiously grabbed his sword from the back of his waist and began walking around the rocks. He passed one ready to fight a potential Grimm…only to see a fresh piece of wood laying on the ground.

He walked up to it, picking it up in his free hand. "She's still here…"

A gust of wind blew out the campfire, as Qrow took another step.

A stabbing sensation went through Qrow's foot as his entire body was enveloped in a poisonous purple aura.

"Graaaaugh!" He moaned sinking to his knees. "The hell... is this…?"

Before Qrow could finish, he felt physically sick. He opened his mouth as purple bubbles of poison escaped.

"You thought you could sneak up on me, didn't you?"

Qrow looked up, his skin looking paler and his forehead a purple colour. "You… knew…"

Qrow stared at his poisoner. A raven-haired girl in a dark blue minidress wearing a red tie, holding a Pokéball in her left hand.

She brushed a bang of her hair off the centre off her face, revealing that her arms were covered in white bandages.

"Of course I knew. Did you think I wouldn't hear the gunshot that saved my life?" She chided.

Qrow's eyes widened. "If you know I saved you… Then why did you just poison me…?"

The girl walked closer to the man as she began rummaging through the brown satchel on around her hip.

"Sorry. But I'm afraid Toxic Spikes aren't too picky on who they poison. I had them scattered here earlier to act as a warning, and advantage against those Dark types. But you were just unlucky enough to walk into them."

Qrow grunted. _'Of course.'_ He thought.

The girl pulled out a pink heart shaped berry with light spots and two leaves coming out its bottom.

"This is a Pecha Berry. It should cure, or at the very least help with the poison status you're under."

Qrow reached for the berry, only for the girl to pull it away at the last second. "Hey kid…! What are you-?!" Qrow groaned as the poison wore away at him, more bubbles expelling from his mouth.

"Although I do have to wonder." The Pokémon trainer glared seriously at the professional Huntsman. "Why have you been following me?"

Qrow panted. "…What? I saved your life…"

"That's not an answer. You've been following me for a while, so you must have seen my Pokémon, not that you'd know what they were. So: do you plan to take steal them? Do you plan to kill them and sell their remains? Or is it for sport? And what would you do with me once you had them?"

Qrow, managed to get to on one foot. "…You're right. I am here for you… I came to help you…" Qrow tossed his weapon on the ground and looked at the girl honestly. "…Please…" He winced as the poison took a hold of him again.

The girl looked at the man in front of her, as she glanced at her bandaged arms. If it wasn't for him, she would have suffered a lot worse. Maybe he was helping her. Or maybe a different person saved her, and she just gave him a lie to work with? Or maybe she was right from the start? She gritted her teeth as she felt conflicting emotions inside herself.

A gritty growling sound interrupted her thoughts, making her look behind her, tightly gripping the Pokéball in her hand.

"You've got to be kidding me. Now of all times." She glared ahead of her seeing an Ursa Major running towards her on all fours.

Qrow's eyes widened getting on both feet. "Give me that! I'm trained to kill that thing! If you cure me-!"

"Be quiet!" The girl interrupted. "I still haven't decided if I believe you yet. I'll handle this myself." The girl threw the ball into the air. "Prepare for battle!"

The ball opened releasing a yellow insect appearing, with traits combining bees, wasps, and hornets. It's two pairs of insect wings let it hover in the year, its large red eyes tinting the world in red, as it pre-emptively raised its three stingers. The two large white ones on its thin grey arms and the yellow one sticking out its rear.

"Beedrill!" The trainer cried out, getting the bug type's attention, pointing at the Ursa Major. " **Use Pin Missile!** "

Beedrill quickly darted its head to the Grimm, as its three stingers glowed white. The trainer snapped her fingers, making Beedrill fire three waves white needles that exploded on contact with the monster in front of them, making dust rise and obscure it. When it settled, not even its body remained.

Qrow looked on in astonishment as Beedrill hovered down to his trainer.

 _'_ _I know Oz told me just how strong these things could be but… To take down an Ursa Major that quickly in a single move…'_

The trainer turned around with Beedrill staring at their captive. "Catch." She threw the berry, which Qrow went to catch, but missed as result of taking poison damage.

Qrow grumbled grabbing the berry off the ground, putting it in his mouth whole, without bothering to dust it off. Once he swallowed all of it, he quickly found himself feeling better, as he took a breath.

"So, what made you decide to believe me?" He asked.

"I didn't decide anything." She began to say. "So far you're the only person I've ran into in this wasteland. And I need information, if you don't comply-" She snapped her fingers. " **Toxic Spikes!** "

Beedrill's bottom stinger was surrounded in poison. He aimed it into the air where the poison rose, before exploding, scattering purple makibishi spikes onto the rocky ground, where they were soon absorbed.

"Do you agree?"

Qrow shrugged. "What choice do I have?"

"Good. Now follow me." The trainer ordered picking up Qrow's weapon before he could grab it.

Beedrill buzzed loudly behind Qrow, making him grumble and follow her back to her makeshift campsite.

* * *

Back at Beacon, Kai was currently resting on his arms, staring off into space during Dr Oobleck's lecture.

"The Western end of Saunus as many of you students should know, especially those visiting from Shade Academy, is a barren and desolate wasteland. But it was not always that way, in fact contrary to its modern-day environment it contained a vast oasis in the middle of the desert. However, when humans began colonising the area, transforming it into the kingdom of Vacuo, well-" Doctor Oobleck paused in the middle of his lecture to take a drink of coffee from his mug. "That's when we started abusing all its resources and began fighting over it."

Oobleck zoomed across his lecture hall educating students on the newest topic for the semester, the history and creation of the four kingdoms of Remnant. In today's case; the western kingdom of Vacuo.

"Now then! Can anyone tell me the three main contributors to the destruction of Saunus' oasis." Oobleck paused to take a drink as a handful of students raised their hands, before zooming in front of one of their desks. "Mr Emblem!"

Kai was woken up, making him rummage around nearby notes. "Right. Um… Humans fighting… Mining the resources aaand…" Kai quickly rummaged around but couldn't find anything before looking back at Oobleck nervously. "Uh… Accidental property damage?"

Some members of the class snickered at Kai's last answer while Oobleck looked at him unamused. "Two out of three, not bad." Kai gave a sigh of relief. "But still not good enough!" Kai jerked startled as Oobleck zoomed back into the middle of the hall. "Does anyone know what the third contributor was… Miss Schnee."

Weiss lowered her hand. "It was ecological disasters." She said confidently.

"Very good! Yes, these factors practically turned this natural paradise into an area just as lifeless and uninhabitable as the rest of the desert." Oobleck took another sip before zooming to another side of the room. "During this time civilians were forced into makeshift homes often uprooting and travelling frequently due to the fleeting resources and Grimm attacks. This went on until after the Great War, when a formal government was finally established, however-"

Kai had already stopped listening, his body posture slouched as he sighed.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Kai looked to his left seeing Emerald sitting next to him.

"Oh you…You're…" Kai snapped his fingers trying to remember her name.

"It's Emerald. I was friends with the girl who you hit in the face with an open door."

"Oh yeah-oh. Right." Kai rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm really sorry about that."

"It's fine but I'm not the one you should be apologising to." Emerald leaned closer. "This lecture's pretty boring huh. Makes me wish I stayed at Haven."

"Yeah I… I guess." Kai looked away. "We really shouldn't be talking right now."

"Come on what's the harm. Afraid of getting in trouble?" Emerald teased.

"Kind of, yeah." Kai awkwardly replied. "Also, it's kind of weird since, well, I don't really know you, so…"

"There's no need to be shy. Besides, I know you're dying to say something." Emerald leaned further making Kai feel uncomfortable.

"I… Well… Um…"

"Ms Sustrai!" Oobleck shouted across the room. "Do you have something you wish to share with the class?"

Emerald slowly went back to her seat. "No sir…"

"Then please don't distract the other students! I don't know how Haven taught you, but here we respect our teachers when they're talking." Oobleck adjusted his glasses, then zooming across the room. "No then, where were we?"

Kai glanced at Emerald then back down at the table, sighing.

The trainer and Qrow sat on opposite ends of the extinguished campfire, with Beedrill hovering awkwardly close to Qrow.

"Does the bug have to be here?" Qrow asked.

"Just try to ignore him if he's bothering you. If you co-operate then I won't have to use him." The trainer lightly threatened.

Qrow looked at the insects red eyes seeing his reflection and turned away, slightly creeped out.

"So, do you have a name?" He asked.

"I'm the one asking the questions here."

"Look it's going to be a little awkward talking to you without a name." Qrow pointed out.

The trainer paused to think. "…You first."

Qrow shrugged his shoulders. "My name's Qrow. Qrow Branwen." Qrow gestured an open palm to her. "Now you."

The trainer took a breath. "…Robin. My name is Robin Navy."

Qrow smiled. "There, was that so hard."

Robin frowned. "Don't try getting friendly with me. I still have some questions for you to answer."

"Okay, shoot."

Robin got up. "First question. Where am I?"

"How specific an answer do you want?"

"Don't toy with me." Robin put her fingers together, getting Beedrill to raise his stingers.

"I'm not toying with you Robin. Do you want to know where you are in the kingdom? Which kingdom you're in?" Qrow paused, seeing Robin getting a confused and concerned look on her face. "Or do you want to know what a kingdom is?" He finished. Robin clenched her fists in frustration, making Qrow shake his head. "Maybe I should just tell you a bit of everything? Considering you're so confused you don't even know what questions you want to ask."

Robin relaxed and sat back down. "…That's probably the best idea."

"Well alright then." Qrow got up, causing Beedrill to jab its right stinger inches from his face. "Easy there, I'm just talking." Qrow cleared his throat. "First I should probably tell you the name of this new world you've stumbled into."

Robin's eyes widened. "How did you-?!"

"Eh, eh, eh. No interrupting." Robin settled down, and Qrow continued. "Welcome to the world of Remnant. Not the best place to live, but depending on where you're staying, it can get a little easier. You've got towns and villages that pop up as fast as they fall. But the sweet spots are Vale, Mistral, Atlas, and Vacuo. The four kingdoms of the modern era, and each one's special in its own little way. A kingdom by the way is similar to, what are they called in your world… regions I think." Robin went to speak again, only for Qrow to raise a finger. Like it or not, he had completely reversed the situation in his favour. He knew a lot more about her than she knew about him. "We're currently standing in the kingdom of Vale, probably the most stable of the four kingdoms. Almost anyone from anywhere can find a living and call this place home. This is mostly thanks to, like most things, prime real estate." Qrow pointed to the mountains behind him. "Those mountains over there act as natural defences to most threats, unfortunately that makes expansion difficult outside the mainland, and the main city of course." Qrow turned back to Robin. "That's where we found our first Pokémon trainer."

Robin quickly stood up. "There's another trainer here!"

"Hey! What did I say about interrupting?" Qrow complained. "And yes, there's another trainer. He came to this world just over three months ago, only he appeared closer to the city."

"So, this other trainer… how did you find them?" Robin asked anxiously.

"Well I've never met him in person." Qrow started to answer. "But from what I heard he was using his Pokémon to act like some vigilante or something. That brings with it a certain amount of attention, which was how Oz found him."

"Oz?"

"Professor Ozpin. The headmaster at Beacon Academy, one of four institutions in our world that teach young hopefuls with potential into becoming Huntsman and Huntresses like myself. He found the kid, and invited him to join the school to keep an eye on him, while he has people like me following leads to get him home." Qrow pointed to Robin. "And that's how I met you."

Robin began walking closer to Qrow. "I suppose that makes sense. This trainer… do you know much about them personally?"

Qrow scratched his head. "Let's see… He's a guy for starters. Seventeen. Apparently collected these things called gym badges in the… Kalos region I think."

"Kalos? That's the same region I'm from."

"Really. Interesting." Qrow thought out loud. "Regardless I think it's only fair I get to ask you a question. Considering I've answered all yours."

Robin nodded in understanding. "Okay. What is it?"

"Do you know anything about Team Flare?" Qrow asked seriously.

Robin tensed up and Beedrill buzzed more aggravated.

"I know about them…" Robin glared at Qrow. "They're the reason I'm in this world in the first place."

* * *

The bell went signalling the end of Oobleck's lesson. The students rushed out going to where they needed to be, including who was Emerald slowly walking down a hallway. She cautiously made her way back to her dorm on the East side, letting herself in.

"You're late." Cinder hissed, sitting on a chair. With Mercury lying down on top of the bed.

"Sorry. It was only because after the lecture that loony professor spoke with me about talking in-"

"I don't won't to hear your excuses. I want to hear what you know." Cinder harshly interrupted.

"O-Of course." Emerald looked down. "I almost got him to speak, that or make him pass out. But that professor kept his eye on me."

"So, you've come back with squat. Great work Em." Mercury said sarcastically.

"Look I can make him talk. I can get what we need. I just need more privacy."

"Then see that you get it. We need to see what he knows." Cinder ordered.

"Hey here's an idea." Mercury interrupted. "Why don't we just kill him like we did that puma. It would save us a lot of time, and be a lot less work."

"We can't kill him. Not while Ozpin's watching him." Cinder stated. "For now, all we can do is find out what he knows. Based on what Team Flare's told us and seeing how he's captured Torchwick, if he's been invited into Ozpin's secret society, he could be a threat to our entire operation."

"Seriously. That one guy taking us down, come on. Without his monster's he's nothing, and even with them we could take him easy." Mercury argued.

Cinder ignited a flame in her hand. "Now, now Mercury. Calm down. Remember that we have much more important goals to achieve at our time here at Beacon. Of course, if it appears that the trainer is too big of a potential threat-" Cinder clenched her hand extinguishing the flame. "We may have to force our hand."

A pinging sound went off and Cinder checked her scroll.

"What is it?" Emerald asked.

"Nothing that concerns you?" Cinder answered as she walked to the door. "I'll be leaving for a couple of days, if anyone asks for me, tell them I'm bedridden with a terrible illness."

"Why do you get all the fun?" Mercury asked leaning up on the bed.

Cinder opened the door and stepped out. "It's nothing too entertaining. I'm just… dealing with some unruly pets."

* * *

 **So, Qrow has made his debut early along with a new OC trainer. I had thought about adding a new trainer character for a while, and now seemed the best time to do it. While Kai is still the main character, Robin will still play a role and will be participating in the story going ahead so I hope you like her. I've even uploaded an drawing of her on my DeviantArt account, so if you want a better visual guide for her that's there.**

 **Fun Fact: Up until the moment I designed the character, I was going to make the trainer male. But then when I put pencil to paper I ended up drawing a female, that's just how the creative process works sometime.**

 **Either way, until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	32. Chapter 29: Birds of a feather

**-Morning, Vale mountainside-**

Qrow stood over to Robin, as down at the ground annoyance. Her faithful Beedrill buzzing loudly in the background.

"It's fine Beedrill." Robin calmly said to her Pokémon. "Settle down."

Beedrill raised its stingers, looking into Robin's eyes before backing down and drooping. Its buzzing getting quieter.

"Why do you want to know about Team Flare?" Robin asked.

"Because that's why I'm out here in the first place." Qrow answered.

"I thought you said you came here for me."

"No. I said I came here to find a way back for the other trainer. And that way back just so happened to be a lead regarding a Team Flare sighting." Qrow huffed. "Unfortunately, the trail went cold. I was thinking about giving up, say it was a false alarm. That is, until I saw you."

Robin looked back at Qrow. "Very well. I'll tell you what I know." She sat back down of the ground. "In my world Team Flare was a short-lived crime organisation from three years ago. Their crimes ranged from: stealing energy from a powerplant, to stealing all the Pokéballs they could get from a factory along with everything in-between. Until one day Lysandre, the man in charge of a famous technology company called Lysandre Labs made an announcement, saying he was the leader of Team Flare and that he was about to kill us all with the something called the ' _ultimate weapon_ '." Robin paused.

"You okay?" Qrow asked.

"I'm fine." Robin answered defiantly. "That day just brings back a few… unwanted feelings."

"Can you continue?"

Robin nodded. "Thankfully the international police managed to stop him before the weapon could be used, destroying his whole operation quite literally. To this day nobody's ever seen what happened in Geosenge town. There was too much debris, and a few days later… the ground had completely covered like s _omething_ grew a garden over it."

"So how exactly does that explain you getting involved with them and ending up in this world." Qrow asked.

"I was getting to that." Robin turned to her Beedrill. "My world hasn't heard anything from Team Flare in three years. I wouldn't have even believed they were still around until I saw them for myself." A cold wind blew as dark grey clouds covered the sky, dimming the area. "It was three weeks ago. I was busy training my Pokémon when…"

* * *

 **3 Weeks Earlier…**

 **-Midday, Route 14-**

 _Kalos Route 14 otherwise known as the 'Laverre Nature Trail' was a marsh littered with lush trees and boggy swamps that gave the trail an eerie vibe, even in broad daylight._

 _Loud splashes were and explosions could be faintly heard, deep within the route. Through the bog, past the trees, and inside the area marked with black and yellow warning tape. Two Pokémon were fighting._

 _"_ _ **Beedrill use Pin Missile! Chesnaught block and prepare to counter attack!**_ _"_ _Robin ordered her two active Pokémon on the soft grassland._

 _Chesnaught stood with his feet submerged in water, buzzing in front of him was Beedrill with his three stingers glowing. Chesnaught crossed his arms in front of his body right as Beedrill began firing, bombarding Chesnaught with wave after wave of attacks._ _When the light from Beedrill's stingers faded Robin narrowed her eyes._

 _"_ _ **Chesnaught use Seed Bomb! Beedrill dodge and reposition!**_ _"_

 _Chesnaught growled spitting explosive seeds at Beedrill. Beedrill buzzed disappearing in a blur avoiding the attack, startling Chesnaught as he looked around in a panic. Beedrill suddenly reappeared behind Chesnaught with his right stinger raised._

" ** _Beedrill use Poison Jab! Chesnaught Spiky Shield!_** "

 _Beedrill's stinger was coated in poison, thrusting it at Chesnaught. Chesnaught reacted in time using his status move, blocking all damage and causing Beedrill to get stabbed with various spikes dealing damage._

 _"_ _That's enough!" Robin ordered._ _Her two Pokémon relaxed and began moving closer towards her._ _"_ _Overall, not bad." Her two Pokémon cried in appreciation. "_ _ **If**_ _you were trying to disappoint me!" Her two Pokémon were startled and went quiet._ _"_ _Chesnaught you have a shell for a reason. Angle your body towards an opponent's attack to divert some of the damage. And if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, always check your blind spot! You just barely reacted in time to block that last attack! You won't have that time against the champion."_

 _Chesnaught drooped, making Beedrill relax. "And as for YOU!" Beedrill went back in shock. "As soon as you got behind Chesnaught you stopped completely losing all momentum! You should have struck hard and struck fast but instead you paused! And show some self-control! I've seen your trigger instincts, so I know you could have stopped yourself before colliding with Spiky Shield."_

 _Beedrill's head drooped and the two Pokémon looked at their trainer with sorry faces._

 _"_ _Don't give me that look you two. You know how serious this is!" Robin moaned. "This will be will be our sixth!_ _ **Sixth**_ _! Attempt to beat the champion and get the champion title rank." Robin rummaged around her bag pulling out a green trainer card. "I am tired of looking at this card and seeing it's_ _ **Green**_ _! This year will finally be our year!" She put the card away. "At least it should be, but it doesn't look like it based on today's performance!" She rummaged around her satchel pulling out two aerosols similar to the one Ruby used to heal Talonflame. "Now come on. I'll heal you up, and then its best we get out of here. These areas may be sealed off and private, but I still don't like the idea of staying in them too long."_

 _Her two Pokémon whimpered._

 _"_ _Don't give me that look! DO NOT give me that-" The two continued their look making Robin smile. "I can't stay mad at you two. I'm sorry I yelled." She patted their heads, and they both perked up. "Better. Good. Now don't mess up again or else next time I won't apologise for what I do to you!"_

 _Her Pokémon flinched._

 _Robin quickly healed her Pokémon and returned them, putting their balls in her pouch. As she was about to leave the ground suddenly shook, only just able to keep her balance to avoid falling into the water. When it subsided, she properly got her balance and groaned._

 _"_ _What is going on with these tremors? I doubt its natural gas lines like the news is saying." Robin shook her head. "Never mind that! I've got more important things to do." She began walking off, her trainers squelching on the damp grass when she heard voices coming her way. "The patrol. I thought they didn't get here until later." Robin looked around, noticing a large rock near her. "Guess this will have to do."_

 _She ran through the marsh, ducking behind the rock. She waited as she heard the voices get louder along with the squishing sound of their footsteps._

 _"_ _Ugh! This stuff is completely ruining my suit." A female voice said._

 _"_ _Quit your complaining we have a job to do." A male voice ordered._

 _"_ _UUUGH! My feet are completely soaked now. This feels so wrong!"_

 _"_ _Will you shut up! We're supposed to keep a low profile. Stealing and transporting Pokémon across light years requires subtlety."_

 _Robin became alert. 'Stealing Pokémon!'_ _She thought. She cautiously poked her head around the rock seeing two Team Flare grunts. 'Those outfits! Team Flare?! But that's impossible!'_

 _"_ _Eww, eww, eww~" The female grunt moaned. "Can we just go, there aren't even any stupid Pokémon around here."_

 _The male grunt looked around, not seeing a single pocket monster. "You're probably right. This place was a long shot anywa-ait a moment." The grunt looked out towards the water seeing a small, round, tadpole looking Pokémon bob out. "Look over there, a Poliwag."_

 _"_ _Do we have to get it? It's in the water." The female grunt moaned._

 _"_ _Sure, we can leave it. If you want to explain how you saw a Pokémon but didn't go after it to the boss then be my guest."_

 _The female grunt whined as she began walking forward. "Ugh, fiiine. Let's just get it over with."_

 _The two grunts quickly went over to the Poliwhirl, as Robin crouched and watched._

 _"_ _Why did that Poliwag have to get out of the water." Robin complained. "Maybe-" She went to go after them, but saw a grunt glance her way making her hide herself completely. "What am I thinking? That Poliwhirl is none of my business, who cares what happens to it."_

 _Robin crossed her arms and waited. Ignoring the feeling of guilt in her stomach._

 _'_ _Come on. Come on! How long does it take to catch a Poliwag?!'_

 _"_ _ **POLIIII!**_ _" The high-pitched cry of pain and terror broke through the area._

 _The sound made Robin stand up in alarm and gasp at what she was seeing. Standing on top of the Poliwag was the male Team Flare grunt. In his hands was a mysterious yellow crystal attached at the bottom of a forked metal pole._

 _"_ _Man, that was too easy. I'm still not sure what exactly this Dust stuff is, but the weapons rule!" The grunt declared._

 _"_ _Just hurry and throw the Pokéball, my feet are getting cold!" The female grunt moaned._

 _Robin's eyes widened in shock. 'A-A cattle prod?! But those have been banned for years! You can't even use those on regular cows!'_

 _The male grunt threw the Pokéball. It wiggled once… twice… three times… POP! The Poliwag came out whining._

 _"_ _What gives, it shook three time!" The grunt stabbed the Poliwag with the rod making it scream as it was electrocuted. Its eyes then went as spiralled as its belly, plopping on its back._

 _Robin just stood there, gritting her teeth. 'I can't just let this happen! I have to do something!'_

 _The female grunt looked at the Poliwag. "You knocked it out. Now it can't go in the ball. I got my feet wet for nothing."_

 _"_ _So we can't catch it. Fine! We'll just carry its unconscious body with us. Problem solved." The grunt went to pick up the Pokémon, only for it to slip out of his hands and slap him in the face._

 _The Poliwag was charred and bruised and had no energy for battle, but wasn't prepared to get stolen easily._

 _"_ _Why… You…" The grunt readied the cattle prod._

 _"_ _What are you doing?! If you attack it when it has no energy left to battle, you could seriously injure or kill it!" The female grunt shrieked._

 _"_ _This thing's up and moving, that's enough to know it's fit enough to fight!" The grunt angrily argued as the Poliwag wobbled._

 _The grunt charged forward with the rod, and the Pokémon braced itself for the worst._

 _"_ _Hey creep!"_

 _The male grunt looked to the side, only to get smashed in the face with a brown satchel._

 _"_ _OW!" The male grunt held his bleeding nose, as his glasses fell off. "MY NOSE!"_

 _"_ _That's what you get for disrespecting the rules of the wild." Robin declared standing confidently. "It escaped your Pokéball and you knocked it out. That's when you let the Pokémon go."_

 _"_ _A-A Trainer?!" The female grunt cried out._

 _"_ _Ugh! What the hell do you keep in that bag?!" The male grunt got up, rubbing his bloody nose._

 _"_ _The better question is; what do you think's gonna happen when I tell the authorities I saw two Team Flare grunts attempting to steal a wild Pokémon in a marked off area? I bet they'll realise that you've been the ones behind the missing Pokémon and the flashing lights!"_

 _"_ _I…" The male grunt finally had it click. "Shit! She's right!"_

 _"_ _What do we do?" The female grunt flailed._

 _"_ _Isn't it obvious?" The male grunt threw out a Pokéball sending out a Golbat, as he gestured his Dust powered cattle rod at Robin. "We stop her from talking! Now get her! We can't afford to get found out!"_

 _The two grunts charged at Robin, as she began to run for her life, looking back briefly to see the Poliwag jump back into the water. She briefly smiled running straight for the trees._

 _"_ _Almost there-AAH!" Robin was struck on the back by the Golbat's_ _Wing Attack_ _knocking her onto the mossy ground. As she tried to get up, she felt the male grunt stamp on her chest as he held the prod just in front of her eyes._

 _"_ _You're gonna regret interfering girlie." The grunt raised the prod, as Robin braced herself._

 _BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-!_

 _Two alarms went off from inside the grunt's suits._

 _"_ _Uh-oh." The female grunt put her hands on her face._

 _"_ _What?! No! This place hasn't been used in weeks, it should be stable!" The male grunt cursed._

 _The ground began shaking again, this time much more violently, making the grunt fall onto the ground freeing Robin. She tried to get up but the soft, wet ground combined with the quaking, made it impossible to stand up properly._

 _"_ _Another quake?! This strong?!" Robin covered her eyes when she was blinded by a sudden flash. "What is that?!" She peered through her fingers to see a bright white light started to glow in the suddenly expand turning into a bright glowing hole with a checkered pattern._

 _She felt herself being pulled towards it like she was in a vacuum. She tried getting away but couldn't as she and the grunts screamed as they fell in. Everything was white. Robin felt herself falling, yet not falling at the same time. She opened her mouth to breathe but there was no air. She began to feel cold, and her eyes began to close, right as the area in the corner of her eye began to show green light._

 _And then everything was black._

 _..._

 _The darkness started to fade. Robin was slowly opening her eyes, witnessing the night time sky._

 _"_ _What-What happened?" Robin slowly sat up, her entire body aching. "The last thing I remember was…" Robin began to remember what happened on Route 14. "Yeah… That…" She looked to her side seeing the two grunts both passed out. She groaned, slowly getting herself up. "How… annoying…" She slumped on her left side, as she put her left arm on her hip to support herself. "Got to get to the police… let them know… Team Flare's back…" She heard rustling behind her, and noticed the two grunts were beginning to come to. "Oh, come on…" She walked as fast as she could, hiding behind a nearby dead tree. "If it worked once… Wait? I don't remember making it to the forest. And why is the ground so rocky?" Robin looked around realising she wasn't in Route 14 anymore. Instead she was surrounded by dead trees, on top of a rocky surface. She glanced to her left and right seeing mountains on both sides. "What the… hell…?" She whispered._

 _"_ _Ugh what hap… no, NO,_ _ **NO!**_ _" The male grunt screamed as he got up._

 _"_ _Hmm? What time is it?" The female grunt casually asked looking around. "Hey, when did it become night time?"_

 _"_ _Since we fell through one of those…! AH! I'm so mad I can't even remember what those portal thingies are called!" He pulled out what looked like a pager from inside his suit. "Come on! COME ON!" The pager pinged. "…Phew…" The grunt gave out a massive sigh of relief. "We're close to one of trade off sites. Get up, unless you want to get eaten by one of those monsters around these parts."_

 _"_ _Fine…"_

 _The two grunts, clumsily got up and walk out of the area heading down the mountainside. When they were out of the area, Robin walked away from the tree._

 _"_ _What's going on here? Too much has just happened. I need to calm down, and-" Robin stopped and gaped. A faint sound of silent scream came out of her mouth. She stared off into the mountainside in a trance, glaring at the bright shattered moon in the sky._

* * *

"It didn't take long for me to realise I wasn't in Kalos anymore… or on Earth." Robin paused looking down. "Three weeks I've been out here. And the fact that me and my team have survived… its nothing short of a miracle." She looked away from Qrow, rubbing her eyes.

She heard a buzzing from her side, and she felt Beedrill rubbing up against her. She reached out and rubbed his head in appreciation.

"Thank you Beedrill." She thanked, bringing out his ball. "I don't think I need you anymore for the time being. Take a rest." She tapped the ball against Beedrill returning him to the capsule.

Scraping metal was heard as Qrow picked up his weapon off the ground, placing it behind his back. "I'm sorry." Qrow got Robin's attention. "Nobody should have to go through this. Especially at your age."

Robin scoffed. "I don't want your pity. I want to get back to my world. And in order to do that, we need to track down Team Flare. Together."

Qrow flinched in surprise. "Together? Wait a minute. You're in no condition to do anything. We need to get you somewhere safe."

"Nowhere on this world is safe." Robin walked right up to Qrow. "Look, you want to find Team Flare, so do I. You know the area, and I know a place close to where Team Flare are hiding. If we go after them, I can get home, and you can do whatever you were gonna do with them. Deal?"

"Look kid-"

"Please! I want to go home, and I don't want to wait three months for another chance, I'm just so…tired."

That made Qrow finally notice how Robin looked. While not as rough and beat up as Kai was when he visited Ozpin, she looked paler, and more exhausted. Presumably from sleep depravity from fear of Grimm attacks, and having to constantly move to find somewhere safe, if only for a while.

Qrow pulled out his flask and took a big gulp. "…Alright deal. We leave immediately, I know a few shortcuts to make up time but this still might take a while, you understand right?"

"Trust me. If something is in my sights, I can afford to be a little patient." She said smugly. "By the way can I have some of that-?"

"It's not water." Qrow interrupted before drinking some more.

"…Oh." Robin realised.

* * *

Glynda Goodwitch was standing in her classroom at the end of a very long day. After teaching several classes and large groups of students from varying year groups and academies, she just wanted to have a rest. She was piling a group of papers together on the table when she heard a knocking sound.

"May I come in?" Ironwood asked as he stood at the door to the room.

Goodwitch casually adjusted her glasses. "That depends." She turned around to face him. "What do you want?"

Ironwood smiled. "I see you're just as courteous as ever, even when you're not in the same room as Ozpin."

Glynda raised her crop, making the door start to close. Ironwood quickly pushed his hand on the door, stopping it before it fully shut.

"This is important. You should know I wouldn't talk to you if it wasn't." Ironwood looked at Glynda seriously, making her roll her eyes.

"Please come in." She offered.

Ironwood opened the door, walking towards Glynda. The sound of his footsteps echoing in the large and empty room.

"Now then. What was so important that you had to come see me?" Goodwitch asked.

"Straight to the point I see, I've always liked that about you." Goodwitch raised her crop against Ironwood's chin threateningly. "I've come to talk to you about one of your students… Kai Emblem."

Goodwitch lowered her crop, looking at Ironwood seriously. "I fail to see why an Atlas headmaster would want to know about a Beacon student."

"You and I both know he is no ordinary student. Those things he has. Those-"

"Pokémon." Goodwitch interrupted put her crop down, placing her arms to side the side. "I must admit, when I first heard about Mr Emblem's _family_ as he calls them, I was… reasonably concerned. However, after teaching him these past few months I see no reason why he shouldn't be treated like any other student." Goodwitch walked around the room looking at the empty seats. "Believe it or not, Kai actually lost his first sparring match. Surrendered in fact, against Weiss Schnee." She glared at Ironwood. "I suppose that must make you feel better."

"And more recently?" Ironwood asked without hesitation.

"In my professional opinion… He's still far too stiff. But given how he's only had three months of Huntsman training, he's adapted exceptionally well. He discovered his semblance in six weeks, created his own weapon in conjecture with a fighting style. And the way his Pokémon follow him and fight on his command, he's probably one of the best team leaders I've ever seen, granted that was the one aspect he's had years of practice of."

"So now that he's adjusted to this world, he's surpassing your expectations." Ironwood summarised.

"In a manner of speaking. But he still has much yet to learn." Goodwitch evaluated.

"Or perhaps, he's just been playing dumb." Ironwood pulled out a scroll putting it in front of Goodwitch.

"What is this?" She asked.

"Watch it and see."

Hesitantly Goodwitch picked up the scroll, seeing a paused video. She gave Ironwood a curious look, before playing it. Pink light illuminated her face, as she began to witness Lucario mega evolving, attacking the source of the camera, with metal debris flying off in the distance.

"What is this?" Goodwitch stated in shock, witnessing Mega Lucario's final Aura Sphere before the video went black and ended. "Where did you get this?" She confronted Ironwood.

"Its footage discovered in the destroyed Paladin's black box." Ironwood began to pace around the room. "I had hoped to find information on how the Paladin's were stolen in the first place. But instead I found **that**." Ironwood stopped in front of Goodwitch. "Did you know his Pokémon could do that?"

Glynda paused. "No… I had no idea they possessed this much power. Or could transform that way."

"Exactly. So tell me this, if you, his combat instructor hasn't realised that one of your students has been holding back this entire time… Then how much more do you think he's managed to hide behind your back?"

Ironwood turned leaving the room, leaving Goodwitch to think.

* * *

Speaking of Kai, he was currently lying on his back on one of the Main Avenue's benches. A thin beam of light warmed his face, as he looked deep in thought.

 _"_ _It's just as Lucario said; there's been no news about getting home. Who knows this might be a one-way trip." Kai paused as he and his team took the reality in. Kai and his team sighed._

 _"_ _I still miss home though." Noivern said solemnly._

 _"_ _We all do bro." Greninja responded._

Kai took a deep breath, focusing on the memory and breathed out heavily. He pulled out a Pokéball and tossed it in front of him, bringing out Lucario.

"Good afternoon Master. Do you require my assistance?" Lucario greeted. "I sense that you are feeling troubled."

"It's fine Lucario it's just… Do you think it was the right decision to stay at Beacon?" Kai asked.

Lucario closed his eyes, thinking for a moment in silence. His aura sensing appendages being pushed by a light breeze, before opening his eyes. "Your argument was valid, and we have made attempts to find a way home while we have remained. So, I believe your decision was correct."

Kai smiled. "I didn't even have to mention home, for you to pick it up." His smile faded. "Was it that obvious?"

"No. But I was able to link your aura to your recent thoughts."

"I should have guessed." Kai leaned up. "I'm sorry for moping around."

"You have no need to apologise. It is only natural to experience feelings of doubt and concern given our scenario." Lucario explained. "Would you like my advice?"

Kai nodded. "Sure, why not?"

He patted the bench, and Lucario sat down.

"Do you recall when you first tried getting us to communicate with you?"

Kai put his chin on his fist. "Let's see… I think it was last March I first got the idea. It's weird thinking how long ago that was."

"And when did you finally manage to get all of us to start speaking fluently?"

"That was…" Kai counted fingers on his other hand. "The end of February. Only a few weeks before we came here." Kai looked at Lucario. "Ain't that a weird coincidence."

Lucario nodded. "Quite. However, the main reason I'm asking you this is because of how long it took. Almost a full year."

Kai got on his feet. "I see where you're going with this. It took a long time to teach you to speak, so I should just be patient, and eventually we'll make it back."

"Partially Master. But I was more linking how both tasks, quite frankly seemed impossible from the outset."

Kai's face showed intrigue and Lucario continued.

"While humans and Pokémon have been able to understand each other for some time, communication has always been a mystery. With a few exceptions, it seemed impossible. Many may have tried in the past, people with larger budgets, resources and other useful assets. And yet… you succeeded where all those before you have failed. I find that truly quite remarkable about you Master."

Kai smiled and his cheeks went slightly went red. "Wow… I never thought of it that way."

"Well you should. It's hardly been your first accomplishment." Lucario smiled. "Defeating Team Flare, capturing and defeating legendary Pokémon, earning the coveted rank of champion, and now training at an exclusive school in another world to become a qualified Huntsman." Lucario looked at Kai fondly. "No matter what life throws at you, and no matter how long it takes, you somehow **always** manage a way to succeed. And that is but one of the many reasons why I'm proud to call you my Master."

Kai felt his stress and his concerns slowly fade, as he patted Lucario on the head. "Thanks, Lucario. I needed this."

"Any time Master. Although I am curious, why did you want us to learn human speech so badly?"

Kai grinned. "For moments like this."

Lucario chuckled. "I should have suspected as much."

* * *

The sun broke over Vale's mountaintops, blinding anyone directly looking at them. Qrow looked at the orange sky signifying sunset and dusk, before turning to Robin.

"It's gonna get dark soon. We need to pick up the pace if we're going to make it to high ground before it gets dark." Qrow explained.

"You don't need to slow down for me." Robin answered back.

"I wasn't saying I was." Qrow turned back around walking ahead.

Robin followed looking down at her bandaged arms. "I never got the chance to thank you earlier…"

"For what?" Qrow asked, not looking back.

"For saving me from that… Grimm. And for coming out here to help me."

"Don't mention it. Just doing my job." Qrow kicked a nearby pebble.

"About that. What exactly is a Huntsman?"

Qrow shrugged his shoulders. "That depends. Our main job is to kill the Grimm obviously. But some use their training differently. Mercenaries, bodyguards, and several _other_ jobs are some examples of people making use of their Huntsman training."

"I see. Interesting."

"Any reason why you asked?"

"Just curious, considering the other trainer here is studying at one." Robin answered. "Makes me wonder if he enjoys it."

"Hard to say really, it depends on the person. On the one hand: there's lots of travelling, you're your own boss most of the time, and if you're on a good team then the companies pleasant." Qrow paused and raised his hand to signal Robin to stop. She looked up to see a group of flying Grimm high above passing them. "On the other hand: it ain't exactly the easiest job in the world, and it's not one of those jobs you take for the pay." Qrow continued walking ahead, with Robin slowly following. Her eyes rolled up, and she collapsed on the ground. "Kid?" Qrow turned around to see Robin on the ground. He gasped and rushed over to her. "Robin? Stay with me Robin."

Robin groaned and opened her eyes. "I'm sorry… I just lost it for a minute."

Qrow looked down at her and frowned. "You're exhausted, you're in no fit state to move. We'll have to camp here tonight."

"No…" Robin weakly got to her feet. "I can keep going."

"Look kid, what you're doing is admirable. But if you keep going, you're just gonna make yourself feel worse."

"Better that than dead." She argued.

Qrow sighed. "Look I get that you just met me. But trust me, you can get some rest around here."

"I told you before I don't want your pity. I'm fi-"

" **SCREEE~!** "

A pitched cry cut through the air.

"What was that?" Robin asked.

Qrow looked in the air, seeing the flying Grimm from before turn around coming for them.

"They noticed us." Qrow brought out his weapon, positioning it in front of him. The blade bent back revealing two shotgun barrels. He pulled the weapon's trigger firing bullets at the Grimm.

"You're only making them angry!" Robin chided.

"Hate to break it to you, but Grimm don't really feel the same way you and your pocket monsters do. The only thing they feel is bloodlust."

Robin frowned, putting her hand into the satchel on her belt, bringing out a Pokéball. "Well since they're coming here anyway might as well get ready." Robin pressed the button on the ball making the Pokémon burst out of it.

It was an ursine, quadruped Pokémon standing on its hind legs, with each of its large forepaws have black claws and paw pads. It has bluish white fur with a shaggy tuft at its rear. Three spikes of ice hang from its lower jaw, forming a beard. With the rest of its face consisting of a long snout, beady black eyes, and rounded ears.

"Beartic prepare for battle!" Robin pointed at the incoming flock, growling and nodding, before turning to Qrow.

"Hey." Qrow greeted as he went back to shooting at the flock, grazing one of the Grimm in the beak.

The Grimm got closer allowing Robin to get a better look at them.

The Grimm had the head, wings and talons of a large predatory bird and the rear legs, tail and body of a lion or tiger. They had black fur and feathers, with white bone-like spines on its body, including a row of bony spikes on its wings, as well as a white birdlike skull. On its head, it has a bone-white beak and four red eyes, along with grey webbing on the sides of its beak.

"Mind explaining what these things are?" Robin asked.

"They're called Griffon's." Qrow answered.

"Got any tips?"

"Try not to get yourself killed."

Robin rolled her eyes. "Way to be helpful." She muttered.

As one of the Griffon's came close Robin thrust her arm outwards. " **Beartic use Icicle Crash!** "

Beartic expelled a blast of misty cold air up into the air. The Griffon saw it and flew under the stream to dodge.

"You missed!" Qrow warned.

"Not yet." Robin narrowed her eyes.

The cold breath gathered in the air, forming a thick layer of white mist. Suddenly a barrage of icicles fell from the misty cloud, smashing on top of the incoming Griffon, breaking its skull and stabbing its body causing it to fade in mid-air.

Robin smiled. "Good work. Now keep up the pressure. **Use Icicle Crash again!** "

Beartic breathed more cold air into the cloud of mist, expanding it and making more chunks of ice rain from the sky, smashing against the helpless Grimm.

"Not bad kid." Qrow complemented as he shot a Griffon out the sky.

"What did you expect?" Robin looked ahead seeing the remaining Griffon land further up ahead. "Get ready Beartic! Engage!"

"Beartic Bear!" Beartic nodded, going on all fours and charging ahead.

Qrow followed, running past him with his sword out in front of him. Qrow leaped into the air, thrusting his sword down stabbing through one Griffon's skull. Screeching in death, Qrow ripped his weapon out horizontally slashing through another Grimm, followed by a gunshot blast in another' one's face, carrying the momentum to cut a final one's back in half. Qrow took a breath, before looking to the side seeing one gliding at him.

" **Aqua Jet!** "

Beartic tackled into the Griffon, surrounded by a stream of rushing water. The Griffon was knocked of course and soaked, as Beartic stood on all fours.

" **Follow it up with Icicle Crash!** " Robin ordered from a safe distance.

Beartic roared expelling misty breath diagonally upwards, freezing the air and stabbing the Grimm with multiple falling icicles. Two Griffon landed in front and behind Beartic making him stand up, and look between the two in confusion.

"Keep calm Beartic! **Go after them one at a time with Superpower!** "

Beartic looked at his trainer in understanding, growling as he was surrounded in orange fighting spirit. Beartic slammed its paw on one of the Griffon taking it out with ease as he glowed with a blue aura. The second crunched his leg making him moan before turning around and swatting it away with his paw, his body surrounded by blue aura again.

" **Icicle Crash!** "

Beartic opened his mouth again, releasing frigid air and making icicles fall killing the Grimm.

Qrow appeared further ahead of him as he swung his sword down, cutting through the remaining Grimm, making it fade into ash.

Robin panted as she slowly began walking up to them. "I think that's the last of them."

" **SCREEEEEEE!** "

A large shadow appeared over them, as a larger Griffon, covered in a larger number of bone plates landed in front of Qrow and Beartic.

Robin gritted her teeth. "Of course." She swung her arm forward. " **Icicle Crash!** "

Beartic growled, raining down chunks of ice that buffeted the Grimm, making it shriek.

The large Griffon charged forward slashing Beartic with both its claws, forcing it back. Beartic growled clutching its front leg, misty breath coming out his mouth.

"Damn…" Robin cursed. "I got cocky, and now Beartic's been weakened by Superpower too much."

As Robin focused on her mistake, the Griffon cawed flying over the ground past Beartic. Qrow intercepted slashing its side twice, forcing it to land. The Griffon thrashed, clawing at him as he dodged the attacks by inches. He slashed into its skull knocking it off balance, then viciously cutinto its flesh. It cawed startling Qrow, bashing him with a swing of its beak before gliding away from him towards Robin.

"It's after you! Move!" Qrow warned.

Robin's eyes lit up with panic, before noticing her bandages in the corner of her eye.

"Not again! **Beartic block it with Aqua Jet!** "

Pressurised water blitzed past Qrow, as the Griffon raised its claws to sweep Robin in mid-air.

A loud scratching sound was heard, as Qrow gaped. The Griffon flapped its wings in mid-air as its claws were huddled in Beartic's front legs.

"Don't let go Beartic! Stay strong!" Robin ordered.

"BEAR!" Beartic growled.

The Griffon struggled in Bearitc's grip as it violently pecked and bit him, he stood strong.

Robin cautiously walked back, a couple of feet before staring seriously at the monster in front of her, putting her fingers together. "Time for the last resort!" Beartic roared as his body emitted a sub-zero aura. Stomping the ground, icicles formed under his foot. " **Beartic use Sheer Cold!** "

Beartic unleased an omnidirectional wave of ice in a white burst. Qrow and Robin covered up as chilling winds blew past them, along with the ground under their feet being frozen in a layer of ice. When the wind stopped the two looked to see most of the area frosty and icy, along with the large Griffon frozen in a massive pillar of jagged ice.

Robin calmly stepped forward on the ice as thin mist rose around her. Beartic exhaled misty air as Robin stared at the pillar of ice. She snapped her fingers, and the jagged pillar shattered into pieces.

Qrow was in shock. His body was shivering and his breath misted up in front of his eyes. Robin sighed in relief as her breath went misty before slipping falling flat on the ground.

"Robin!" Qrow snapped out of his shock and cautiously ran to her, turning her over. "You okay kid. Don't push yourself."

"I'm… fine." Robin answered back. "I just… lost… my… balance…" Robin's eyes closed as she finally began to rest.

Qrow frowned. "Rest up Robin. You're safe now."

Beartic walked up to Robin and Qrow, silently nodding. Getting the message Qrow nodded back, handing her over to Beartic, who cradled her up in his front legs.

Qrow got on his two feet looking at the setting sun. "Even if we make it back to where you first arrived, odds are Team Flare's probably gone." He pulled out his scroll lifting it above his head, seeing its weak signal slightly improve. He looked back to Beartic before walking towards the mountains.

"Sorry kid."

* * *

 **So things are heating up in this arc, or rather cooling down.**

 **I also feel I should mention how the Pokémon League and the Champion are in my interpretation in the Pokémon world. Essentially in the post game of any main story (barring Ultra/Sun and Moon) even though you become the champion, the previous champion is still the acting champion in the league. So in my interpretation there are two different champions: the small percentage of trainers who have beaten the champion once who gain a 'Champion' rank. And the ACTUAL champion who is the more consistent and official head of the Pokémon league.**

 **Make sense? I hope so, considering how as you've seen obtaining this rank is very important to Robin.**

 **Either way, until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	33. Chapter 30: Caged birds

**\- Night Time, Beacon Academy-**

Remnants moon shone a beam of moonlight into the near empty library, illuminating the pages Kai was currently reading in his book.

 ** _October 30_** ** _th_**

 ** _Although the boat ride wasn't easy on my stomach, I have arrived in yet another new region. This one 'Unova' specifically 'Castelia City'. My sleep schedule has finally returned to normal, as I explore this large and overwhelming city, the likes of which I've never seen before. I'm not too proud to admit that I've gotten lost several times, but given how I'm only exploring I don't seem to mind too much. My currency however has been a major issue as of late. I've managed to get by so far thanks to generous acts of charity from strangers, as well as by selling several items from our world to collectors and shop keepers weirdly enough. But with donations low, and having sold every unnecessary item I could, I'm afraid I may have to get used to sleeping on the ground or on a public bench. My goal still seems so far out of reach, but I must keep moving if I'm to return home._**

Kai read through this familiar passage over and over again in confusion and doubt.

"It just doesn't make sense." Kai thought out loud.

"What doesn't?"

Kai looked away from his book to see Ruby walking up to him with a steaming mug in her hand.

"Ruby? What are you doing here?" Kai asked.

"I couldn't sleep, and when I can't sleep, I try to study." Ruby answered.

"Really." Kai responded sceptically. "You?"

"Yup. Its something I've done since my third day, I hoped that it would make me a better leader."

"Did it work?"

"Maybe? Weiss seemed a lot nicer after I started doing it." Ruby sat down and placed the mug on the table. "So, what's wrong with your book?"

"It's this entry. It takes place a month after the previous one, but seems completely normal." Kai explained.

"And that's weird because?" Ruby asked.

"Because this is what came before it." Kai passed the book to Ruby where she saw the previous pages, scribbled and torn.

"Maybe a dog tried eating eat." Ruby suggested.

"Then how would that explain the scribbles, or the fact its just that section." Kai shook his head. "Something happened in that month."

"Do you think it's about getting you home?"

"Maybe…" Kai muttered. " _'Doctor Who'_ did sound like he was about to make a lot of progress. But he's still in my world, without a penny to his name." Kai slumped. "Maybe I'm just gonna end up the same."

"Don't say that!" Ruby interrupted. "You will get home someday I'm sure of it!"

Kai looked up slightly startled. "How can you be so sure? Not even Ozpin's found any leads, honestly it almost feels like he's hiding something from me." He asked concerned.

"Because I made a promise to you that I'll help get you back!" Ruby reminded. "And I'm keeping it no matter what!"

Kai sat there in a shocked silence, before he smiled. "Thank you Ruby. I don't know what I've been thinking lately. Of course, I'm going home one day!"

"That's the spirit! And if you need any help, then you can count on me!" Ruby pushed her mug to Kai. "Now drink up!"

Kai eyed the dark brown liquid in the mug suspiciously, sniffing it. "… I'm not a coffee person."

"Neither am I. But I have a secret that makes it taste great. Come on trust me!" Ruby promised with beaming eyes.

Kai really wanted to say no. If this was him at the start of Beacon he would have said instantly. But since Ruby was his friend, and given how she just gave him a pep talk.

"… Okay fine, I'll try it." Kai relented picking up the mug. He blew on the drink, making steam rise as Ruby looked on in anticipation.

 _'_ _Here goes nothing.'_ Kai thought as he put the liquid to his lips. The drink reached his taste buds, making his eyes widen as he slammed the mug back down and swallowed painfully.

"What did you put in that?!" Kai shouted in shock.

"Just what I normally have in my coffee. Cream and five sugars!" Ruby answered cheerfully.

"Cream and five-!" Kai spluttered in disbelief. "No wonder that tasted like the first time Slurpuff cooked on her own! How are your teeth not riddled with holes!"

"Hey! There is nothing wrong with having cream in coffee." Ruby defended.

"You think THAT'S the problem!" Kai handed Ruby back the mug. "Here keep your drink I've had enough."

"Well it woke you up so you're welcome." Ruby celebrated in victory by drinking from the mug.

Kai chuckled quietly. "I guess that's true." Kai put his book away, and pulled out some text books. "Well since we're both here mind if we study together."

"Sure, and Kai…" Kai looked at Ruby. "If you're ever feeling concerned about getting home. Just come see me, okay."

Kai nodded gratefully. "I'll keep that in mind."

The two began studying while in the background, hidden in the darkness, Emerald began to walk away.

"So, you think Ozpin's hiding something from you." Emerald repeated. "For your sake. Let's hope it's true."

* * *

 _A raven-haired figure was silhouetted behind a bright light. Robin looked at them from the distance as she ran towards them._

 _"_ _Hey wait!" She shouted as she ran up to them._

 _The figure remained stationary, making Robin look around in confusion seeing her feet moving, but her body remaining in one spot. The silhouette looked at her and started laughing, making Robin grit her teeth, as she ran faster._

 _"_ _No! I will catch up to you! Do you hear me?! I will defeat you!"_

 _The figure burst into a laughing cackle as Robin felt herself being dragged away, like she was running on a treadmill._

 _"_ _What's happening! Why am I going backwards! WAIT!"_

 _The silhouette just ended up getting further and further away as Robin was forced into the darkness._

* * *

Robin's eyes widened and she gasped taking a deep breath. She began breathing slowly, feeling something warm and soft around her. She looked up seeing Beartic looking down at her.

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Put. Me. Down."

Beartic placed her on the ground, still partially frozen from the Sheer Cold attack. She looked up seeing the night time sky, along with Remnants shattered moon.

"It was just a dream…" Robin murmured as she looked around for something. She looked back at Beartic. "Where's Qrow?"

Beartic pointed his forepaw behind her. She followed it towards the mountains further ahead, making her grit her teeth.

She pulled out Beartic's Pokéball. "Rest up for now." She recalled Beartic and grabbed another ball throwing it into the air opening it up.

* * *

Qrow was standing on the mountaintops with his scroll in his hands.

 **Qrow: The arrival's in bad shape. Need pickup. ASAP.**

 **ERROR: MESSAGE WAS UNABLE TO BE SENT**

Qrow groaned attempting to send the message again.

"Thirteenth time lucky…" He huffed, going to press the send button, but paused hearing a plop. He cautiously hovered his hand over his weapon, as the plopping continued. Qrow darted his eyes left and right looking for the source of the sound. "Doesn't sound like a Grimm. Did the kid follow me or-?" A final plop behind Qrow made him bring out his blade and spin around slashing the air. Nothing was there as he looked down. "What the-?"

Laying on the ground was a round, green, amorphous creature. It had a black diamond marking on its back and a yellow feather-like adornment on its head. Its face consists of puckered lips and closed slanted eyes. And plodded along on stubby appendages that are the same shape as its lips.

"Gull~" The creature yawned opening its mouth wide and blowing a bubble that floated through the air, popping against Qrow's face.

"Okay then." Qrow put his weapon away. "Weird little thing, not often I find something I don't even recognise. Last time that happened was-" Qrow realised what this thing was, and gasped. He looked down at it and went for his weapon only to yawn and fall on his side.

 _'_ _Why am I… so tired?'_

With his eyelids beginning to close, the last thing he saw was a pair of red business trousers before falling to sleep.

"Heh. I told you it would work." A male Team Flare grunt bragged as they returned their round green Pokémon.

A second grunt picked up Qrow's scroll reading the message he attempted to send. "We may have a problem, apparently there's someone else here, an arrival whatever that means."

"Hey let me see that."

The grunt went to hand the scroll to his partner, only for him to accidently press too hard on the side with his thumb making the screen go black. "Hold on I think I made it go into sleep mode." The grunt pressed the button again showing the scroll locked, requiring a password.

The other grunt, grunted in annoyance. "You idiot!"

"Hey, it was an accident! Besides we still have him!" The grunt gestured to Qrow. "So, what are we meant to do with him now?"

"I'm not sure. Let's just take him back to the trade off site and keep him contained, we'll ask that scientist lady what we'll do next. Now give me a hand."

The two grunts grabbed two of Qrow's limbs and began carrying him away. Not noticing the buzzing sound nearby.

* * *

"U~ugh." Qrow moaned waking up. He moved his head only to bang it on something hard and cold. "Ow!" Qrow held the back of his head with his hand looking around, seeing bars in front of him. He grabbed onto them, and shook them before going wide eyed.

In front of his eyes were dozens of metal cages like the one he was in containing dozens of whining Pokémon. Multiple Team Flare grunts along with their Pokémon were moving in front of him being busy: moving cages, taking notes and chatting with one another.

"It appears our guest is finally awake."

A pair of red and black tall high heeled boots came into Qrow's view. The wearer crouched down allowing Qrow to see the rest of them. They were a girl with teal-blue hair in oval shaped pig tails on the sides of her head, with technologically blue advanced glasses covering her eyes. She sported a red and white long-sleeved shirt with red shoulder pads and a tie that is about the same shade blue as her hair. She also wears a red and black skirt with a belt that has the Team Flare symbol adorning it. Short red tights can be seen underneath.

"Who are you?" Qrow asked.

"I thought you would know. Given how you were here to find us… Qrow Branwen." Qrow paled. "Yes. We know who you are, and we've been made aware of how troublesome you can be. As luck would have it, we have someone on hand who knows how to deal with you."

A second pair of footsteps walked to Qrow's cage, giving Qrow a view of them that made him scowl.

"You! You were there with Amber!" Qrow yelled.

"Hush now little birdy. Don't rock your birdcage." In full view was Cinder, wearing a black infiltration outfit. The outfit consisted of a sleeveless jacket, long gloves, stiletto heel boots, and a black glass mask to hide her identity.

Qrow growled. "If you're going to kill me, mind letting me have a last drink?"

"Not the brightest one, are you?" The blue-haired Team Flare member insulted. "If we wanted you dead, don't you think we would have done it while you were asleep?"

"As tempting as it is, you're much too valuable." Cinder walked closer to the cage. "As one of Ozpin's must trusted followers, the information you have on him and his plans is vital." Cinder crouched wrapping her fingers around the cage's bar's. "I really must thank you. I only came here to check how well Team Flare was doing after Xerosic took over from Torchwick as the leader of both factions. But seeing you getting captured, just made my day."

Qrow lashed out reaching out for Cinder, only for her to lean back in time to dodge. The two girls got up and left Qrow alone, walking off.

"Make sure you keep multiple grunts watching him at **all** times Mable." Cinder ordered.

"Very well. But I can assure you Team Flare can more than handle a low-powered man like him." Mable explained.

"Don't be so sure of yourselves. That was your downfall wasn't it?" Cinder reminded. "And be careful, his scroll locked itself but from what your grunts saw before it did, there's apparently someone else here. An ' _arrival'_."

"And what should we do if this arrival attempts a rescue?"

Cinder smirked. "Eliminate them." Cinder walked away from Mabel. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to inform the Queen of our caged bird."

Cinder and Mabel split up, unaware of the buzzing Beedrill watching them from over a row of cages. He flew behind the cages facing Robin.

"Are they gone?" Robin asked.

Beedrill nodded.

"Good work. Now return." Robin returned Beedrill and cautiously looked around the edges of the cages.

 _'_ _There are grunts swarming the place. If I don't move soon they'll find me. I need a distraction. Think Robin think!'_ Robin thought.

The sounds of whining Pokémon made her struggle to concentrate, making her grit her teeth.

"How am I supposed to think with all these wild Pokémon-!" Robin got an idea, pulling a Pokéball from her pouch. "I can't believe I'm about to do this."

From his cage Qrow rattled the bars, mildly irritating the two grunts guarding him.

"Stop that!" One of the grunts snapped.

"Or what?" Qrow answered.

"Or else we could make this very uncomfortable for you."

"How could this get any more uncomfortable?" Qrow asked rhetorically.

The cages in front of them suddenly fell forward breaking open and letting the Pokémon trapped inside free. Standing behind them was Chesnaught with a big grin on his face.

"A Chesnaught?!" One of grunts exclaimed.

"It must have escaped its cage!" The other replied.

"He's not the only one." Qrow pointed at the various freed Pokémon growling at the grunts.

"Easy. Settle down." One of the grunts said, reaching for a Dust powered cattle prod.

"Chesnaught!" Chesnaught shouted getting all the Pokémon to lunge at the grunts in a comedic dust cloud.

"Ow! Gah! Wah! Ooh! Aah! Ow! Wow! AAAH!"

The dust settled revealing the two grunts, scratched and bruised with their suits torn up and their glasses cracked.

The Pokémon split up, creating as much havoc and distraction as possible, as Chesnaught walked up to Qrow's cage. Qrow went as far back as he could when Chesnaught grabbed the bars, ripping them off with all his might, then backing off.

Qrow cautiously crawled out of his cage, staring up at his grinning saviour. "Wait. Aren't you-"

"You're welcome you know."

Robin came out of hiding, walking up to Qrow and Chesnaught.

"Robin…" Qrow responded in surprise. "Look thanks, but you shouldn't of-Ow!" Robin punched him in the arm. "What was that for?"

"That was for ditching me! I thought we were going after Team Flare together." Robin answered angrily.

"I wasn't going after them! I was heading higher up to get a signal, so I could message someone to pick you up." Qrow explained.

"So, tell me how you ended up in the middle of a Team Flare hideout?!"

Qrow smirked. "Guess I was just unlucky enough to get found by them."

Robin scoffed. "I don't believe in luck."

"Just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it's not there."

Robin began walking off. "I don't have time to argue, I need to find the boss here."

"Where do you think you're going? In this chaos-!"

"I can navigate around easier and take the boss by surprise." Robin looked at Qrow. "I appreciate you helping me get this far, and me breaking you out your cage makes us even. Come Chesnaught." Robin snapped her fingers, making Chesnaught come to her. "Goodbye Qrow." Robin ran off, with Chesnaught following her as fast as he could.

"Kid wait!" His concern fell on deaf ears as he patted himself down. "No weapon, no flask _and_ they have my scroll. I wish she was right about there being no luck."

* * *

Wild Pokémon rampaged throughout the area, freeing other captured Pokémon and battling Team Flare Grunts and their Pokémon.

A Team Flare Grunt stood behind a quadruped, hyena-based Pokémon with shaggy black fur, battling a brown avian Pokémon with a vulturine neck, broad, powerful wings and a long, pointed, pink beak, as well as a decorative red coxcomb on top of its head.

" **Mightyena us Bite against that Fearow!** " The grunt commanded, stretching his hand outwards.

Mightyena's teeth glowed before leaping at the Beak Pokémon. Fearow flapped it wings to ascend dodging the attack, before coating its beak in a spiralling yellow energy, diving at the open Mightyena, knocking it out.

Fearow cawed craning its head to the grunt who nervously sweat. The flying type glided over the ground with glowing wings via Wing Attack ready to take revenge on the grunt making them crouch bracing themselves.

As the Fearow was about to hit, a twang could be heard, before the Fearow shrieked falling to the ground. The grunt unbraced himself and stared at the defeated Pokémon, noticing a glass arrow in its side. He giggled in relief before passing out in exhaustion dropping ₽350.

A series of boots crunched through the ground staring at the two defeated parties.

"I leave them alone for five minutes to send a message and everything's gone to chaos." Cinder grumbled, as the glass bow in her hands shattered. "Perhaps Mercury was right when he said this was going to be fun."

* * *

" **Chesnaught use Seed Bomb!** " Robin commanded.

Chesnaught spat a slew of explosive seeds at an enemy grunt's Onix taking it down easily. The grunt leaped back in shock with a gaping mouth.

"Wha…?! Beaten by a kid?" They cried out.

Robin walked towards them with a deadly serious look in her eyes that made the grunt whimper.

"How did you get to this world?" Robin asked harshly.

"L-Like I'd tell you, brat!" The grunt answered.

"All right then. Let's try Plan B." Robin snapped her fingers making Chesnaught come closer with a grin plastered on his face, as he cracked his knuckles.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" The grunt shouted making Chesnaught pause. "We move around using these devices! I-I don't know what they do exactly b-b-but they make these portals, like the warp tiles in our bases or something similar!"

"Let me see one. Now." Robin prepared to snap her fingers.

"I don't have one on me! I SWEAR! Only the boss and the other scientists have them! We just travel with them or get co-ordinates on where one's gonna open! I swear that's all I know!"

"Is that everything? I want details." Robin narrowed her eyes.

"…I used to wear diapers until I was thirteen, and I'm scared of clowns." The grunt whimpered in fear.

Robin pushed her fingers against her forehead exhaling in annoyance. "You can go."

The grunt nodded rapidly, running off, making Chesnaught frown.

"That's a mental image I don't need right now." Robin looked behind her seeing Chesnaught upset. "Quit moping! You can smash something when we find the boss of this place, okay?"

Chesnaught perked up nodding. "Naught."

"Good. Now, time to find them." Robin declared.

"On the contrary, I've found you."

Robin and Chesnaught turned to the direction of the voice; Mable.

"I take it you're the one in charge then?" Robin accused.

"Of course I am, couldn't you have guessed from me responding to your earlier statement." Mable shook her head.

"Perhaps, but right now all I care about is getting home and if beating you is how I have to do that, then you've already lost! Chesnaught prepare for battle!"

Chesnaught marched in front of Robin roaring.

Mable giggled. "My, my. That energy you and your Pokémon share. It reminds me of another trainer I've faced, the trainer that lead to our destruction."

 _'_ _The trainer that led to your destruction. What is she talking about? A member of the international police?'_ Robin thought.

Mable pulled out a Pokéball. "That trainer has tested my patience time, and time again with his abundant energy. I won't deal with another one. **Weavile send that kid packing!** "

Mable threw the ball sending out a bipedal, weasel-like Pokémon with a pale, grey body that had several feathery areas including a bright red crown and collar made of wide feathers, and a single, thinner feather on each ear. It has two tail feathers and three claws on each paw and a yellow, oval marking in the centre of its forehead. Its eyes are red with three eyelashes, and four fangs protrude from its upper jaw.

"Wea! Vile!" The Pokémon cried out.

"A Weavile… Chesnaught get ready to defend!" Robin ordered, making Chesnaught raise its arms in a defensive stance.

" **Weavile use Ice Shard!** " Mable commanded.

Weavile spat forth a rapid volley of ice shattering against Chesnaught's arms making him grunt.

Robin kept a neutral expression and Chesnaught showed a serious frown, keeping their eyes on their opponent.

"Wait for it." Robin whispered.

Robin concentrated on Weavile, narrowing her eyes. Weavile finished the attack, with Robin's eyes widening at the final ice shard.

"Now Chesnaught! **Seed Bomb!** "

Chesnaught swiped his arms forward breaking the remains of the ice type attack, before spewing his own attack. The seeds closed in on Weavile making her eyes widen in shock, as the explosions engulfed her.

Mable turned away from the winds grunting. "Those reaction speeds!" She looked back seeing Weavile scratched but standing. " **Use Quick Attack!** "

Weavile scowled disappearing in a blur surrounded by a white outline. Chesnaught lost sight of her as she darted all around him, abusing her speed advantage.

"Blind spot!" Robin shouted.

Chesnaught looked behind him seeing Weavile in mid-air readily to strike. A smirk forming on his lips.

" **Spiky Shield!** "

Chesnaught brought his arms together bringing out his shield. Weavile looked in shock, her body was unable to slow down, as she rammed into the spikes taking damage.

"Now grab her!"

Chesnaught undid his shield, making Weavile fall. With her speed reduced off the ground Chesnaught quickly grabbed her leg leaving her dangling.

"Finish her off! **Hammer Arm!** "

Chesnaught's arm glowed orange, slamming it into the ground with Weavile still attached, causing an explosion of dust. It cleared revealing Weavile knocked out in a small crater, as a blue aura fell over Chesnaught.

"Was that really the best a Team Flare commander could do? No wonder your organisation was quickly disposed of. Chesnaught didn't even have to block with its shell like he was supposed to." Robin commented, making Chesnaught sweat drop.

"Is that what you think?" Mable returned Weavile with a calm demeanour. "I must admit you're strong. Very strong. But nothing compared to _him_."

"This _him_ being the member of the international police who helped in taking you down. Correct?"

Mable smirked. "As if the international police could have stopped us."

Robin's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And what does that mean?"

"You're not the brightest trainer, are you? So, let me put this in simple terms. The trainer that stopped us was a nobody. Just. Like. You."

"Do you really think I'm that gullible? If that Weavile was all you had then accept your defeat and take me back to Kalos. Or else my Chesnaught might get a little rough with you." Robin put her fingers together.

Mable pulled out a second Pokéball. "That first round was just get data on you. Now the battle truly begins!"

Mable opened the ball bringing out her second Pokémon. This one was a quadruped, canine Pokémon that is mainly black with a long orange snout and an orange underbelly. It has small, red eyes and a black nose. Around its neck is a white band with a small skull-shaped pendant on its throat. There are two white bands on each of its ankles, as well as three rib-like ridges on its back. It has a long, skinny tail with a triangular tip and three clawed toes on each paw. On top of its head is a pair of long, curved grey horns.

"A Houndoom." Robin murmured. "Chesnaught prepare to continue!"

"Naught!" Chesnaught cried in confirmation.

"I have no patience for you anymore! **Houndoom use Flamethrower!** " Mable commanded.

Houndoom opened her snout spewing a concentrated stream of flames over the ground.

" **Chesnaught use Spiky Shield!** " Robin ordered.

Chesnaught formed his shield, blocking the attack and forcing the flames around him.

"That move again, how predictable. Keep up the heat Houndoom!" Mable commanded, making Houndoom continuously use her attack.

"This isn't good… Chesnaught has not option but to take it." Robin whispered. " **Push through with Hammer Arm!** "

Chesnaught reluctantly put down his shield taking the full force of the Super-Effective attack. Through the flames Chesnaught charged out with both of his arms swinging.

" **Dodge and use Sludge Bomb!** "

Houndoom leaped up in time to dodge the attack. Chesnaught looked up only for her to have a maw full of poison shoot down at him.

"Dodge it Chesnaught!"

Chesnaught tried to run but was too slow, the Super-Effective Poison type attack blowing him up in a purple smog cloud.

Robin gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, staring at the smog. It cleared revealing Chesnaught covered in burn marks, looking weary and tired.

"Chesnaught's barely standing." Robin complained.

"You selfish trainers truly prove our point." Mable analysed.

Robin looked at Mable in annoyance. "You're calling _me_ selfish? Like you're one to talk, considering you tried to take over the world for only yourselves."

"We're saving the world from people like you." Mable explained. "Think about it. Your Chesnaught already fought once, and despite being at a type disadvantage you still kept it in anyway. And I doubt this is the first time something like this has happened. How many times have you forced your Pokémon to fight battles they can't win? How did it feel knowing that they were suffering time and time again while you stood there and ordered them around?"

"You really need to shut up." Robin grunted.

"Struck a nerve I see. Tell me, how far have you gotten on your journey? Have you beaten the gym leaders? The elite four? The champion?" Mable smiled as she drained all the energy in Robin's spirit.

"You… You…" Robin looked down at the ground.

"I knew it. You face an obstacle and you quickly waste your energy in a pointless effort."

Robin slowly rose her head up. Showing a confident grin. "You finally shut up. About time." She confidently stated making Mable lose her smile. "And just what do you think you're doing?! We're in the middle of a battle here quit slacking!" Robin snapped her fingers.

Chesnaught grunted standing upright, a green aura brimming with life and energy surrounding him. He grinned and gave a battle cry, catching his second wind.

"What?!" Mable stepped back. "Where did this energy come from?!"

"And you said I wasn't bright." Robin adjusted her tie. "Let me put _this_ in simple terms. I always believe my Pokémon can win. That they will always win. Because after all the years I've trained them. Fought with them. Cared for them. Well…" Robin confidently stretched her hand outward brimming with confidence. "Defeat is an impossibility! Especially to the likes of YOU!"

A sudden memory flashed in Mable's mind. Of a certain fedora wearing trainer, and his starter Pokémon brimming with confidence and energy three years ago.

"This energy, this pressure I feel. Could this girl really be the same threat as _him_?!"

"Him. Him. Him. You've been so busy fantasising about some guy that you completely ignored I was here. A mistake you'll come to regret! Chesnaught engage on Houndoom!"

Chesnaught charged towards Houndoom as fast as he could, making Mable scowl.

" **Houndoom use Flamethrower now!** " Mable ordered.

" **Spiky Shield!** "

Chesnaught brought his arms together right as Houndoom spewed a stream of flames. A much larger Spiky Shield formed blocking the attack.

"Don't you see this will just end the same as before! Your Chesnaught will just end up roasted! Give up!"

Robin's confidence didn't waver. "You're the one who needs to see things. Take a closer look."

Mable looked at the colliding attacks, her eyes widening behind her visor as she realised something.

"It's… pushing through…"

In the collision, Houndoom's flames seemed to be getting pushed to the sides from further and further back. From behind the Spiky Shield, Chesnaught slowly treaded forward one foot at a time, showing no exhaustion or hesitation as he closed the gap.

"Houndoom get out of the way!" Mable warned.

"Predictable. Chesnaught push forward!"

Houndoom stopped her attack preparing to move. As soon as her maw closed, Chesnaught undid his shield, running through the fleeting flames.

"Jump Houndoom!" Mable ordered.

Houndoom leaped into the air, her silhouette casting a shadow over Remnant's moon.

"Just as planned." Robin put her fingers together. " **Stone Edge!** "

She snapped her fingers. Chesnaught punched the ground making it tremor causing sharp, jagged rocks to come bursting out of the earth. The row jutted forward with the last rock shooting upwards stabbing Houndoom in the stomach. Houndoom gagged before the attack cracked and exploded showering her in shards of sharp rock cutting into her. She fell onto the ground with a thud, her eyes showing spirals.

"She's not just strong." Mable realised. "She's TOO strong! She's not ordinary at all. She might be a threat after all."

Robin pulled out a Pokéball returning Chesnaught. "Excellent work Chesnaught; as expected. Return for now." Robin walked closer to Mable. "You do realise that even if Chesnaught was knocked out, I still have five other Pokémon ready to take you down. So, you never had a chance, as I said, defeat was an impossibility." Robin stopped in front of Mable giving an intimidating glare. "Now take. Me. Home!"

Mable stood stiff. "Hrmph! I've no patience for losing. I don't have to do anything."

Robin gritted her teeth. "Fine then."

She went for a Pokéball, when a hot light came from her feet. She looked down to see a circle of flames around her making her leap back before the light erupted into a pillar of fire.

A series of footsteps walked towards the two making Robin grit her teeth.

"So, you're the one who caused this mess." Cinder stared at Robin, with a flame in her right hand, making parts of her outfit glow orange. "You're not the first arrival to cause trouble. But I'll make sure you're the last."

* * *

 **I wasn't lying when I said that this arc was heating up, and now Robin's out of the proverbial frying pan and into the fire. And the crazy thing is we're only around half way through the arc.**

 **So until next time, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	34. Chapter 31: Power Trip

Qrow was running through the chaos around him looking desperately for his lost belongings. "Not here either." Qrow mumbled to himself as he inspected the area. "Think for a moment, they'd have to be kept somewhere safe so where could-?" Qrow stumbled into a larger area with a large tent set up. "Probably in there."

Qrow slowly walked in making sure no one was nearby. He quickly found what he was looking for, his weapon and flask on a table in the middle of the room. His scroll was next to them connected to a laptop with a customised 'W' on it running a program. Qrow rushed to the laptop unplugging his scroll before turning to the screen.

 **-PASSWORD EXTRACTION PROGRAM-**

 **120,867 ATTEMPTS MADE**

 **0 SUCCESSES**

 **ERROR: CONNECTION HAS BEEN LOST**

Qrow sighed in relief grabbing the rest of his things. "The one time I'm glad Oz was so stingy with assigning me a password with this thing. But just to be safe." Qrow brought out his weapon and shot the laptop, blowing it up. He walked out of the tent mumbling himself. "Now. Where did the kid run off to? She can't have gotten fa-"

A fiery explosion erupted in the air from further away, making Qrow widen his eyes and mouth. "Dumb kid…"

* * *

Cinder and Robin locked eyes in a stalemate of wills with Mable curiously watching with anticipation from the side lines. Robin moved her arms and the battle begun.

Cinder shot a fireball right at Robin closing in fast, as she pulled out a Pokéball from her pouch. She showed no fear as the fireball closed in, shoving her arm outwards. A fiery explosion erupted where she stood, making Cinder smirk before reverting back to a neutral expression when she realised something was wrong. The flames weren't dissipating outwards but rather inwards, as if they were getting sucked into something. The flames quickly dispersed revealing Robin unharmed, before disappearing altogether revealing a glowing Pokémon.

It was a quadruped Pokémon covered in short, reddish-orange fur. It has long ears, dark eyes, and a small black nose. There are three small toes and a yellow paw pad on each foot. Fluffy yellow fur forms a small tuft on its head, as well as its bushy tail and a mane around its chest and neck.

"That _thing_ nullified my attack?" Cinder observed in confusion.

"That would be as a result of Flareon's ability." Mable informed from the background. "Flareon's ability is Flash Fire. Not only is it immune to fire, but it actually empowers it, increasing it's fire type moves by 50%."

"Are you done chatting because now it's my turn." Robin pointed at Cinder. " **Flareon use Fire Spin!** "

Flareon opened her mouth spewing an enhanced spiral of flames towards Cinder. In response Cinder covered up as the flames consumed her inside a fiery tornado rising into the air.

Cinder grunted as she felt the burning pain on her skin, once from the initial attack and second from the resulting vortex she was trapped in.

"Fire won't work, fine. Then let's see her stop this." Cinder threw a canister dust in front of her, making it materialise into glass shards shooting out of the flames.

Robin saw them coming and swiped her hand. " **Flareon use Dig!** "

Flareon quickly dug into the ground submerging into a hole right before the shards reached her, making them shatter on the ground.

"It went underground?" Cinder noticed from inside the flames, as they burned her once more making her wince.

Mable watched the battle, her visor keeping track of Flareon's HP and Cinder's aura. "Trapping an opponent in Fire Spin, then using Dig to avoid damage while theirs continues to dwindle." Mabel analysed. "It's not just power that girl has, but strategy too."

Cinder stared at Robin with distaste. She pulled out another canister and using it to form a glass bow and arrow. "With that thing hiding underground she left herself wide open."

She pulled back on the bow readying the arrow when she felt the ground rumble under her feet. Looking down in confusion, pebbles shifted before Flareon burst out of the ground tackling Cinder in the gut making her gag. She followed it up with a tail slap knocking her threw the air, out of the dissipating fire vortex, and onto the rocky ground.

Cinder scowled as she got herself up, with Flareon looking away from her in a snobby manner and Robin maintaining a straight face.

"I don't know who you are. But right now, you're the only thing standing in the way of me getting home after spending weeks in this death trap of a world." Robin explained. "If you get out of the way now, I may not have to beat you down any worse than I already have."

Cinder brushed herself off and glared at Robin. "You honestly think that fire hurt. I've felt much hotter… and I liked it."

Cinder opened a container forming glass into twin blades. She grabbed them in mid-air and charged straight for Robin.

" **Flareon, Fire Spin!** " Robin ordered.

Flareon blew a spiral of flame at Cinder. Cinder swiped her arm making a gust of wind to blow the flames out surprising the Pokémon and trainer.

"She can manipulate fire and wind?!" Robin gasped in shock.

Cinder leaped over Flareon's head slicing down towards making Robin cover herself up. Flareon suddenly jumped in the way, taking the attack and knocking her away whining.

"Flareon!" Robin cried as her Pokémon thudded on the ground.

"How noble." Cinder mocked in an insulting tone. She swung at Robin again only for Robin's pouch to shudder, opening up and shooting out a bright light.

Beartic suddenly appeared in front taking the hit. "Bear…" He grunted, still suffering from his injuries from the Griffon's.

"What are you doing out of your ball?! I didn't tell you to come out?! What are you thinking taking that attack?!" Robin cried out.

Beartic slammed his forelegs down making Cinder back off, as Flareon came to his side.

"Beartic." Beartic growled seriously.

"Flareon Flareon." Flareon cried confidently.

Robin clenched her fists. "I… suppose it was my fault for not properly locking your ball." Robin looked up at her opponent. "But since you're here… Prepare for battle Beartic!"

Beartic nodded, staring towards Cinder with Flareon. The two's hot and cold exothermic temperatures lightly appearing in the sky as embers and thin mist.

"It doesn't matter how many of those beasts you bring out. They can't protect you forever." Cinder threatened.

"They don't have to. Not if I beat you first." Robin retaliated. "Flareon go after her! **Beartic use Icicle Crash!** "

Without hesitation, Flareon began running on all fours towards Cinder with Beartic exhaling frosty breath above her head forming a thick cloud. Cinder looked up as large chunks of ice began raining down. Cinder leaped away to avoid the raining ice only to get cut off by Flareon.

" **Flareon use Iron Tail!** "

Flareon's fluffy tail became metallic, as she swung it into Cinder. Cinder parried with her blades only for them to smash against the much harder substance. Flareon's tail slammed into her chest knocking her back under the cloud, buffeting her in icicles.

"I'm not finished yet! **Beartic use Aqua Jet!** "

Beartic rocketed ahead in a jet of water, appearing behind Cinder and slamming into her, knocking her further away with the wind knocked out of her.

Mable observed Cinder's aura reach medium to low levels, making her pre-emptively reach into her shirts inside pocket.

Cinder crouched on the ground clutching her chest. As Robin looked on triumphantly with a smirk, putting her thumb and middle finger together.

"Let's finish this! **Flareon use Flare Blitz! Beartic use Sheer Cold!** "

Flareon cried out cloaking herself in an intense sphere of flames, larger and hotter than Talonflame's Flame Charge, as she barrelled forward as a living fireball. Beartic growled taking a deep cold breath as an icy aura flared around him making the ground under his feet freeze up.

Time slowed down as Robin slowly pushed her fingers together. Cinder lay on the ground in anger putting her palm on the rocky terrain making it heat up and glow. Time resumed as the ground under Cinder exploded sending debris flying everywhere. The initial force knocked Flareon off course making her end her attack early, while the resulting shockwaves affected Beartic by shocking him, making him fire his attack in the wrong direction and miss.

Robin gasped, as through the smoke the shrapnel of exploded rock glowed orange becoming shards of glass motionless in the air. The smoke cleared showing Cinder with her arms crossed over her chest.

Robin realised what happened and her eyes widened. "Get out of there now!"

But it was too late. Cinder thrust her arms forward shooting dozens and dozens of glass shards at Beartic and Flareon. The two growled and screamed in pain as the shards cut, and stabbed them, forcing them back and making them kneel down in pain.

"How could that have done so much damage?! Unless-!" Robin remembered where the glass came from. She remembered that glass is just tiny rock granules heated together to form a solid, meaning… "It's a Rock type attack! Which is Super-Effective on both of them!"

Cinder smiled seeing Robin lose her confident demeanour. She brought out the last two canisters on her suit emptying Dust into the air, which she shaped into a bow and three arrows in her hands.

"Game over." She taunted.

She fired the three arrows, each one passing Flareon and Beartic and landing just around Robin in a triangular pattern. The ground around them lit up and hummed making Robin gasp in fear right before the arrows detonated blowing Robin up in a fiery explosion.

"BEARTIC!"

"FLAREON!"

Her Pokémon cried out in concern for their trainer. Cinder slowly began panting, trying to regain her breath and Mable remained silent watching on cautiously.

The smoke and flames disappeared, leaving a quiet flapping as the only sound in the air. Flareon and Beartic's eyes widened and Cinder frowned.

Standing there was Qrow, huddled around Robin, using his body as a human shield. He slowly opened his arms letting Robin out, her body lightly trembling.

"It's okay kid. I'm here now." Qrow calmly turned around pointing his weapon at Cinder. "I know the kid and her team did a number on you, you're probably exhausted. So, stand down. Final warning." Qrow spoke seriously, a calm anger behind his eyes.

Cinder clenched her fists as she locked eyes with him. "You have a terrible habit of getting in my way."

A click followed by a beep broke the atmosphere as a sudden white light appeared, partially blinding Qrow, Robin and her Pokémon. Their eye's adjusted revealing Mable holding an orange remote in front of a white portal.

"I have no more patience for you getting in our way. I believe it's time we make our leave." Mable announced walking through the white light vanishing.

Cinder looked at the portal, then back at Qrow, smirking sinisterly. She ran towards the white light, with Qrow running as fast as he could to cut her off. Robin was mesmerised by the light and ran after Qrow, heading towards it. The portal began to dim, with Cinder closest to the goal. Qrow pulled back his blade and began firing at Cinder only for the bullets to miss her by inches.

"Don't let her get through first! **Flareon Fire Spin! Beartic Icicle Crash!** " Robin desperately ordered.

Mustering their strength her Pokémon breathed their natural element at Cinder. Large icicles fell beside her and spiralled flames lit up the ground, but both attacks missed their mark.

"So close. Yet so far." Cinder taunted jumping into the portal.

Qrow stopped in his tracks scowling, as Robin rushed passed him.

"Kid!" He cried out.

"Almost there…" Robin reached out, the light from the portal getting dimmer. Her hand was almost inside.

Qrow suddenly leaped from behind, grabbing her waist and knocking her down.

"What are you doing the portal is about to-!" But before she finished the light faded, and the portal had disappeared forever.

Qrow let go of her and got up. "I'm sorry. It was too risky. It was about to close, who knows where you could have ended up if you went in. And even if you did arrive safely, it'd be the same place that girl and that scientist went. It was too dangerous."

Robin slowly turned around and stared at Qrow in anger. "You don't know that! Maybe I could have handled it! Maybe I could have gotten lucky!"

"You told me you didn't believe in luck! And with me around, you weren't gonna get that!" Qrow argued back.

Robin's teeth and fists were clenched in anger. She went to say something until she saw Beartic and Flareon slowly make their way to her. She saw their concerned looks and her teeth relaxed, her mouth becoming a sad frown, her eyes drooping.

"I… I completely forgot about you two… If I went in there… Then you…" The words got stuck in her throat as she fell on her knees covering her face in her hands, with a couple of tears dripping on her dirty bandages. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Beartic and Flareon said nothing. They went to their trainer, laying there next to her. The hot and cold air she felt from their presence, making her feel at least a little better.

Qrow looked away from the scene in respect. Pulling out his flask and taking a very large drink.

* * *

The sun was beginning to rise, bathing the area in a warm glow. Any presence of Team Flare being there had vanished, presumably they ran off and given how they have Abra's on command, Arceus knows where they are now. As for the wild Pokémon, they too had disappeared. One moment they were knocked out, the next they fled to Vale's wild. Qrow stood beside Robin, who was crossing her arms impatiently, tapping her foot.

"They're late." She stated.

"They'll be here." Qrow reassured. "They'd better be considering all the info I gave them last night."

"I wasn't saying they wouldn't be here, I'm saying they're late." Robin looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Qrow.

Qrow slowly pulled out his flask. "You know, you don't always have to put on a brave face, it's unhealthy to keep your emotions bottled up, sometimes you've got to let them pour out."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm perfectly fine, aside from being stuck here that is, no thanks to you."

"You're still mad about that." Qrow put his flask to his lips, gulping the drink down. He lifted it away sighing, looking at Robin. "Just relax already, Beacon's not home but it's safe… give or take a training accident or two."

Robin looked up at Qrow. "Well you're right about one thing. It isn't home."

Qrow went to retort when the sound of a Bullhead approaching caught their attention, landing in front of them. Robin uncrossed her arms and walked towards it. "About time." She remarked.

Qrow followed behind her putting his flask away as the Bullhead opened its hangar, revealing Goodwitch stepping out to greet them. "You must be the arrival." Goodwitch greeted Robin. She stared at her dirty appearance and bandage covered arms, with a downcast look in her eyes. "I can't apologise for what has happened to you. No one should have to go through what you have gone through, especially at such a young-"

"Is that all you people can say to me." Robin rudely interrupted. "I don't want your pity, or your apologies. All I want is to get away from here as soon as possible. Now please move out of my way."

Robin brushed past Goodwitch walking into the Bullhead. Goodwitch looked at Qrow who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Teenagers." He deadpanned.

"Well you can hardly blame her. Especially after everything she must have gone through, the poor girl."

"Don't underestimate her. She may be putting on a brave face, but she's stronger than most professional Huntsman I've seen."

Goodwitch raised a brow. "And by that you mean?"

"Well aside from the fact she survived three weeks in some of the harshest environment this side of Saunus with: no aura, no training, and minimal supplies." Qrow looked at Goodwitch seriously. "I've seen what her team can do, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed… they even held their own against one of the three that took down Amber. The one that stole from her."

Goodwitch's eyes widened. "What? Qrow are you absolutely-?"

"I couldn't risk telling Oz about it through my scroll, but yeah without a doubt. I saw her use part of her powers myself."

An ill wind blew past them making them go silent, Robin looked on from inside the Bullhead with a curious expression on her face.

"…I see." Goodwitch finally managed to respond. "Ozpin may have suspected she was somewhere in Saunus, but out here?" Goodwitch shook her head before looking at Robin, making her look away. "How much does the girl know?"

"Not much. We're lucky she has no idea what this world is like, I just told her the girl used Dust in her clothing… before having to tell her what Dust is as well as a few other things." Qrow explained.

"And her Pokémon, they were able to hold her back?"

"More than that. I was only there near the end, but from what I saw, if she was in the clear or if she could have defended herself, then she might have had a shot of beating her."

"She's that strong…" Goodwitch spoke softly to herself remembering what Ironwood told her.

Between Kai's exceptional learning speed, the way his team easily dispatched Grimm, how he could destroy even top Atlas technology, and now a second trainer who could have beaten an assailant with the powers of-

"Listen Glynda." Qrow interrupted Goodwitch's train of thought making her look at him. "Keep an eye on her for me, okay?"

Glynda showed surprise at the sincerity of Qrow's tone. "You should know as a teacher yourself that I'm not allowed to show favour to specific pupils." Glynda looked behind her seeing Robin strapping herself into a seat, waiting patiently. "But I suppose I can afford to show some courtesy, given her lack of experience. Granted that's no excuse as far as attending Beacon's concerned."

Qrow smiled turned and beginning to walk away. "I appreciate that."

"Any particular reason you're so interested in her well-being?" Glynda asked.

Qrow partially turned his head back. "Her age. Her stubbornness. Her will. Her drive to keep moving forward… I can't help but see some of my nieces in her."

Qrow looked away, and Glynda looked up at the mountaintops bathed behind the sunrise. A cawing sound piercing the air, as a crow flew into the sky heading over to join them. Glynda turned around walking into the Bullhead, with the hangar closing behind her.

"Where's Qrow?" Robin asked almost immediately.

Glynda sat down on a seat opposite her. "Qrow still has work to do out here. He won't be joining us."

"And you just left him out there all alone? No supplies?"

"It's his choice, he prefers to travel lightweight. Against common sense in this environment." Glynda answered, putting on her seatbelt. "It's going to be alright now, miss-?"

Robin looked away. "Robin. Robin-" The Bullhead began to take off making Robin lurch forward in her seat. "…Navy…" She answered weakly.

"Are you alright?" Goodwitch asked concerningly, noticing Robin's face losing its colour.

"I'm… fine…" The Bullhead accelerated ascending sharply making Robin's cheeks puff up. She put her closed fist in front of her mouth, as she tried to gulp. "I just… don't get along… with moving vehicles…" Robin finally gulped, removing her fist as she heaved.

"Would you like the pilot to slow down?" Goodwitch politely asked.

"No! Just-!" Robin covered her mouth again. "Just get me there as soon as possible…"

Goodwitch nodded looking away. _'Poor girl, just hold on a little longer.'_

* * *

Meanwhile at Beacon, Kai was training Aegislash and Noivern on the Main Avenue.

Aegislash's sides glowed, and she charged forward using Slash. Noivern flapped his wings ascending, and generating a weak gust of wind, that Aegislash cut through with ease, but still barely missed.

"Good. **Now Noivern use Supersonic!** " Kai instructed.

"Sorry sis, but I'm winning this!" Noivern wailed making high-pitched sound waves vibrate towards Aegislash.

"And my apologies as well Noivern. For I am afraid I cannot allow that to happen!" Aegislash argued.

Aegislash floated away from the sound wave, making Noivern fly after her in pursuit aiming the sound waves at her direction.

"Don't just chase her Noivern. Trap her or surprise her." Kai suggested.

Noivern looked around noticing his surroundings noticing the colonnades surrounding the entrance of the academy. "I got it!" Noivern cried out.

He focused his sound waves on Aegislash making her head towards the colonnades making pushing her to the sides. "Is that all you can do Noivern? I had thought Sire trained you better." Aegislash judged.

Kai swiped his arm. " **Aegislash use Slash!** "

Aegislash's sides glowed, as she charged towards Noivern side on. Noivern had a surprised look but readjusted himself to fly away in time to dodge. Aegislash landed, looking around not noticing Noivern anywhere.

"Hm?" She muttered to herself.

Aegislash looked around, unaware that Noivern was bathed in sunlight in front of the colonnade, completely out of Aegislash's sight.

"I've got you now sis." Noivern gleefully chuckled.

"All right Noivern! **Come out and use Hurricane!** " Kai ordered.

Noivern smirked, quickly flying over the colonnade with glowing blue wings. "I've got you now!"

Aegislash narrowed her eye looking up. "How foolish, giving up your element of surprise."

Noivern's hearing let him hear the comment making him lose his grin. "Huh?"

Kai pointed at Noivern. "Now Aegislash! **Use Shadow Sneak!** "

Aegislash's shadow joined with the shadow of the colonnade, a purple eye rushed along its side, before staring at Noivern from the top.

"Gah?! What the-?!" Noivern cried.

Before he could react a rush of shadow erupted, stabbing him in the gut and knocking him away.

Kai clapped his hands. "That's enough!" He gestured to Aegislash. "Aegislash landed the first hit, so she wins!"

Aegislash looked smugly upwards, while Noivern flew down to meet them with a disappointed look.

"Aw! I almost had you! It's no fair!" Noivern complained.

"We had the same rules Noivern. We could only attack when Kai command us, you followed them, as did I, and I proved the victor fair and square." Aegislash explained. "Besides Noivern. In training, there are no winners or losers, merely the results of our hard-earned labour. Although in this case I was superior."

"Aegislash is right. Besides you both did great. Your speed and evasiveness are both looking excellent. That Shadow Sneak was executed perfectly, and while flawed that was a really good idea to use those… column thingies as cover. I bet if you swapped sides, you would have seen Aegislash's shadow coming in the light." Kai judged.

"You are too kind to us Sire." Aegislash bowed.

Kai looked proudly at his two team members. "This takes me back. I don't remember doing training like this since our journey in the Pokémon league. I hadn't noticed how rusty we all got until coming to Beacon."

"I must admit Sire, I too noticed how my proverbial blade had dulled after my encounter with Lady Weiss."

"Oh, that's your excuse." Noivern mocked getting a stern look form Aegislash. "Sorry sis!" Noivern wrapped himself in his wings.

Kai smiled. "Either way I think we're starting to get back to our former glory, I guess that's one good thing about coming to Remnant, it really reminded me how useful training is no matter how experienced I am." Kai put his chin on his fist. "Maybe I should make a training plan when we get back to Kalos, finally enter that Champion's League tournament we've been putting off from entering." Kai's face suddenly drooped.

"Sire. Is something troubling you?" Aegislash asked.

"It's nothing, just wishing I could face a trainer in a Pokémon battle again and not a student, or a monster, or a grunt, or a giant robot."

"And we shall one day soon Sire! But until then, let us continue our training, and prepare ourselves for then!"

Noivern's ears twitched, making him unwrap himself. "Um guys. I hear something coming."

Kai walked over. "Where Noi-?" Kai stopped when he saw a Bullhead coming in from the distance. "Never mind, it's just a Bullhead. Guess we'll have to cut our training short today, come on let's head back to the room."

"As you command Sire." Aegislash bowed as she and Noivern were returned to their Pokéballs, and Kai headed off unaware that he would soon get his wish.

* * *

 **So today's chapter is a little shorter than normal, sorry. This just felt like a good place to leave it for now. I hope I made the fight between Cinder and Robin's team exciting and believable. Something that I've been trying to do lately is fine tune the balance of strengths between the two franchises.  
**

 **Normally in a crossover like this where characters from one world enter another, one ends up overpowering and overshadowing the other. I tried to keep this balanced, but looking back at my previous chapters I feel like I've underplayed the Pokémon side a bit, so I'm trying to fix that without making them completely overpowered.**

 **Either way, another of Robin's team has been revealed and now she's arrived at Beacon. What happens next I only hope you'll like.**

 **So until next time, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	35. Chapter 32: New kid on the block

**-Morning, Beacon Academy-**

The Bullhead carrying Robin and Goodwitch landed on the end of the Main Avenue, with its engine slowly getting quiet, the hangar door opened. Goodwitch stepped out first calm and collected.

"We're here. Now if you'll just follow me, I'll show you to-" Goodwitch looked behind her, seeing Robin walking all over the place as if she was in a drunken stupor. "Are you quite all right?"

"I'm fine… just-" Robin fell off the Bullhead clumsily landing on the ground. "…ow." Robin slowly got to her feet, wobbling in place. Goodwitch offered her arm, which Robin pushed away. "I'm good. Just still a bit woozy from the trip, I'm fine." Robin looked at Beacon staring at the green light coming from the CCT. "So, this is Beacon. It's bigger than I thought, almost reminds me of the Pokémon League."

Goodwitch stared at Robin noticing her pale complexion, thinking about how long she must have been in those mountains. "Yes, it's certainly impressive but we have a schedule to keep, so if you'll follow me, I will take you to the headmasters office." Goodwitch began. "Although perhaps it would be better to visit the dining hall first. I imagine you must be quite hungry, you and your Pokémon."

At the mention of food for the first time in weeks Robin became alert as if someone had flipped a switch to fill her with energy. "I… I would prefer to go to the dining hall first if I can." Robin confessed.

Goodwitch turned away. "I suspected as much. The students are currently in their lessons so you should have the place to yourself, I'll let the cooks know in advance so they can prepare any meals that you and your Pokémon specifically require."

Robin exhaled in relief. "Thank you I appreciate it."

* * *

Robin's eyes were wide and her mouth was beginning to water, as she stared at the banquet that had been placed in front of her. Plates with: cooked and deli meats, dozens of different fruits and vegetables, a myriad of dairy products, sweets and other treats, several varieties of fish, pies and pastries, a multitude of different drink options and more were placed in front of her.

"Is there anything else that you require?" Goodwitch asked.

"This should suffice." She answered as she pulled all her Pokéballs from her pouch. "You might want to take a couple of steps back."

Goodwitch did, and Robin opened all of her Pokéballs bringing out her entire team as they began tucking in. Goodwitch looked on, outwardly stern and natural, inwardly in shock and awe. She had seen Kai's Pokémon on numerous occasions, yet she was still surprised by the different variety Robin had.

Chesnaught chomping down whole watermelons like they were apples.

Beedrill face first in a pot of honey.

Beartic slurping and chomping down whole fish.

Flareon slowly and neatly eating chopped up bits of minced meat.

And then there were her last two. One of which was eating flaked fish, while the second and probably the one to give Goodwitch the most concern, was chomping down on large amounts of meat; bones and all in an instant.

After around five or ten minutes of stuffing their faces, Robin finished off a chocolate éclair before wiping her fingers and mouth with a napkin. She gave a happy sigh as blood once again made her cheeks pink while Chesnaught gave a loud burp, a sign that both had a good meal.

"I think we've all had enough." Robin stated as she returned all of her Pokémon to their capsules.

"Very well, I'll inform the headmaster that we're on our way. Please come along." Goodwitch slowly walked off, with Robin slowly making her way behind her holding her stomach.

 _'_ _Who knows, maybe this place won't be so bad.'_ Robin thought.

* * *

Ozpin was sitting in his office at his desk, along with Ironwood who was standing off to the side looking at a silver pocket watch.

"How long do they expect us to wait?" Ironwood asked.

"As long as Glynda must deem necessary, which in my experience knowing her, is just long enough." Ozpin answered.

Ironwood put his pocket watch away in his pocket and paced around the room with his arms behind his back.

"You seem anxious." Ozpin commented. "I'm surprised that two teenagers have managed to unnerve you, more than managing a kingdom for a potential conflict."

Ironwood looked at Ozpin. "You know it's not the children I'm concerned about."

"Yes, I have been meaning to talk to you about that." Ozpin swivelled in his seat towards Ironwood. "I understand that Pokémon are quite literally alien, their power is extraordinary and in the wrong hands their potential could be catastrophic. But you seem to ignore the positives they have in the right hands."

"They're monsters. Animals."

"Ones that can communicate, ones that can be reasoned with, ones that can be trained, ones that in another world live in co-existence with humanity. Need I go on?"

Ironwood sighed rubbing his forehead. "I am aware. However…" Ironwood pulled out Kai's Pokédex from his pocket. "I've been going through the entries on this device learning about these creatures. And do you know what I've learned? I've learned: some have body temperatures hotter than the sun! Some are smarter than some of the most advanced supercomputers in their world! Some can reshape the world reducing mountains to rubble! Multiple of them have different ways of taking away a person's soul! And that is just the tip of what they can be capable of!" Ironwood put the Pokédex away. "They're far too dangerous to exist in our world!"

"And yet they live in peace in their own one." The two stared at each other until Ozpin's desk began beeping letting him know that Goodwitch and Robin were waiting in the elevator. "Regardless on your thoughts James, please have an open mind for this arrival." Ozpin asked.

Ironwood took a breath. "…I will try."

Ozpin rose out of his seat and walked in front of his desk, staring at the elevator. "Come in."

The elevator door opened allowing Goodwitch to step out. Walking close behind her was Robin who was cautiously looking around the room. She looked at Ironwood glaring at her then to Ozpin standing with both his hands on his cane.

"I take it you're the headmaster." Robin assumed.

"That I am. My name is Professor Ozpin." Ozpin gestured to the others. "You have already met Ms Goodwitch and this is General Ironwood."

"A general? Am I really so dangerous that you need to get the military involved?" Robin asked.

"We hope not." Ironwood stepped forward. "Besides, that is rather out of my jurisdiction here."

Robin looked at Ironwood in confusion then at Ozpin.

"Ironwood is the general and headmaster of Atlas academy, from the kingdom of Atlas on the northern continent of Mantle. He's currently staying with us as a guest so that he can attend the Vytal festival, a bi-annual tournament that tests our students while bringing together the four kingdoms." Ozpin explained.

Robin narrowed her eyes. "Does that make you a general as well? Are you hoping to enlist me in your army, because if that's the case-"

Ozpin raised his hand to stop her. "That is not my intention. I only wish to help you return to your home. And to answer your question; no. I am not a general, Ironwood is the only headmaster who indoctrinates his students into his armed forces."

Robin took a step closer. "So why are you helping me?"

Ozpin smiled. "I suppose as a Huntsman myself it's in my nature to help those in need, as a headmaster I may also have a bias towards the younger generation-"

"And as a man of power, it's in your best interest to keep your eye on me, correct." Robin interrupted.

"Do not give that tone young lady." Goodwitch judged.

"Well you aren't entirely wrong." Ozpin continued. "If you are anything like the other trainer we are currently housing, then we wouldn't want you causing trouble." Ozpin walked to his desk pouring a mug of coffee. "That being said, if you are like that trainer then perhaps, your trouble would be rather… appreciated." Ozpin pushed the mug forwards. "Coffee?"

Robin shook her head. "No thank you."

Ozpin took the mug. "A shame, it's quite good." He took a sip and Robin sighed impatiently.

"So, let's say I wanted to accept your offer. I doubt I could just walk through the front door." Robin assumed.

"Unfortunately not. The previous trainer had the luxury of arriving close to the start of the school year, any lateness could have just been excused with say, a family emergency." Ozpin put his mug down. "However, we have just began the second semester, any new admissions to my academy would frankly be unprecedented and draw unwanted attention to you."

Robin looked down. "I understand. But if you couldn't accept me then why was I brought here, instead of somewhere in the kingdom where I could settle down."

"I never said it was impossible, in fact you too have been quite fortunate." Ozpin began to explain making Robin raise her head. "Do you recall what I said previously, about the Vytal festival tournament?"

"What about it?"

"Along with General Ironwood, many students have temporarily joined us from the other academies. If you were to pose as a transfer student from one of them, I doubt anyone would question your absence from the first semester."

"Won't that require background information? Identification?" Robin inquired.

"Just let me handle the details. As for which academy you would be representing…" Ozpin trailed off turning his seat to look at Ironwood, with Robin and Glynda also putting their eyes on him.

Ironwood shook his head in realisation. "You expect me to just let some… Unknown character, act as a symbol of Atlas' standards."

"No, it is your decision to make James, you have the right to refuse." Ozpin reached for his mug. "I just thought since you are currently residing here, it was worth asking you first. I also thought you would appreciate having our arrival associated with your academy, that way you would legally and rightfully be able to keep a watchful eye over them, given your… previously expressed concerns."

Ozpin drank from his mug, making Ironwood ponder what he had to say. He did make a good point, and it's not like the trainer would humiliate his academy by showing weakness, the opposite in fact. But he still wasn't completely sold on the idea.

Ironwood walked up to Robin. "If I were to enlist you into my academy, I would expect you to live up to the standards set, your otherworldly nature would not be an excuse."

Robin stared up at Ironwood. "I don't make excuses. If there are standards, I make it a rule to surpass them, I give nothing less but perfect results, so if you want to try and weed me out, then do your worst, because frankly I've already dealt with it."

Ironwood smirked. "Well said." He turned to Ozpin. "As long as I have final say on her actions and she lives up to our expectations… Then I have no problem with enlisting her, for the time being."

Ozpin smiled pushing forward a pen and a piece of paper on his desk. "Now if you two could sign this, then me and Ironwood can add you to the registry as soon as possible."

Ironwood signed first before passing the pen and paper to Robin. "Just so you know, I will have to assess your Pokémon in person at some point."

"As long as I'm there when you do it, then that shouldn't be a problem." Robin explained as she signed her name on the contract passing it back to Ozpin.

Ozpin studied the contract. "Thank you for your co-operation… Miss Navy."

"Is that all you needed me to do?" Robin asked.

"That is everything, however I should mention that I helped unlock the other trainer's aura, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't offer the same opportunity to you."

"Is it necessary?" Robin asked.

"As a Huntress it will be, and it will be more difficult to complete your studies without it, but you can unlock it on your own." Ozpin explained.

Robin took a moment to think, the idea of getting someone to help her attain something others could achieve on their own was insulting. But she also looked down at her bandages remembering all the times her life was put in danger, a risk she wasn't taking again.

"…This aura. Is that just your own power gifted to me?" Robin asked.

"No. All I will do is help unlock your aura, that aura and how you develop it is entirely your own. I should also mention that most if not all the students here have had years of training prior to joining to develop their aura, otherwise I would not be offering you this chance to catch up, so to speak."

 _'_ _I suppose it's no different to catching a Pokémon. You didn't create it, but you trained it and made it your own using your own strength and skill.'_ Robin thought.

"Very well, I accept. How do I get this aura?"

Ozpin walked up to Robin placing his hand on her shoulder. "Allow me."

While confused Robin allowed Ozpin to keep his hand on her as he began to chant the same incantation he said when he unlocked Kai's aura. When he finished, he stepped back letting Robin look at herself, noticing she was surrounded in a dark blue glow.

When the glowing subsided, Robin gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you for doing that."

Ozpin nodded. "It's no trouble. I must warn you however that similar to the other trainer, your starting supply of aura is lower than average, perhaps as a result of you not being from this world, take that into consideration if you find yourself in a fight."

Robin nodded. "I understand."

"And with that, our meeting has finished. Glynda could you please escort Miss Navy to the room that I specified."

Glynda nodded walking to the elevator. "Very well, please come along."

Robin didn't say another word, instead just following obediently into the elevator as the doors closed.

"Hmm, interesting." Ozpin said to himself after they left.

"What do you mean?" Ironwood questioned.

"I may have only just met Miss Navy briefly, but she appears to be very different from Mr Emblem."

"In what way?"

Ozpin drank some of his coffee. "For starters: Mr Emblem was a lot more hesitant to join, asking plenty of questions and looking to his Pokémon for a second opinion, yet he was more open to receiving help. Miss Navy however seems far more accepting to join, despite her confident and independent demeanour. Though I suppose that's understandable given their two drastic experiences in their first few weeks."

"Then why do you point it out?"

Ozpin smiled to himself. "I'm just wondering how they'll react when they meet each other and learn they're both trainers. Speaking of that fact…" Ozpin turned to Ironwood. "I ask that you don't inform the Atlas council of Miss Navy's origins."

"And why shouldn't I tell them? I assume the Vale council knows about-" Ironwood pieced it together as he was talking. "You haven't even told the council!"

"It was a promise I made to Mr Emblem not to let people know about him, that he didn't want to know. If you think that was simple, you can only imagine what I had to do to control this information being sent along the CCT from other students, I'm lucky I happen to be sitting in it."

"Do you even realise what you're doing?! You're putting the safety of the kingdom in jeopardy!"

"On the contrary, I think it's been the correct decision to keep this information under wraps, in order to avoid unnecessary panic, such as how you've been behaving."

"Ozpin I-!"

A beeping from both their scrolls interrupted them, making them stare at each other in confusion. The looked down checking their scrolls gasping in shock.

 **Glynda: Couldn't mention this while she was in the room. But she apparently ran into one of the assailants who fought Amber. We need to discuss this as soon as we can.**

* * *

"What exactly are you doing?" Robin asked Goodwitch.

Goodwitch looked away from her scroll tablet holding it under her arm. "Nothing. I just had to check a message." Goodwitch walked ahead showing Robin around the dorm's corridors. "Your room is just around here, if you continue along the hallway you should find: the communal washroom and the communal cooking area. I assume you can find those yourself."

Robin nodded. "I should be able to."

Goodwitch stopped in front of a white door. "This is your room." Goodwitch pulled out a regular scroll giving it to Robin. "This is a scroll. It can be used for communication and identification, merely swipe it over the door to unlock it." Goodwitch began to walk off. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to and before I forget… Welcome to Beacon." Goodwitch slowly walked around the corner.

Robin sighed through her nose, hovering the scroll over the door. Before she swiped it, she stared at her dirty bandages, in turn making her look at her dirty clothes and body. She looked to the end of the corridor and smirked. "A washroom huh?"

* * *

A bundle of white shirts along with several other miscellaneous pieces of clothing whirled inside a washing machine. A white shower curtain was drawn, and a hand reached over to turn the nob on a metal tap. Pressurised hot water and steam poured out of a shower head landing on top of Robin's Raven hair.

Robin sighed in relief and relaxation, for the first time since she had arrived: she wasn't hungry, she was relaxed, and she was finally taking a much-needed wash. The dirt on her body sliding off and mixing with the water as it went down the drain, the steam feeling like it was cleaning cobwebs out of her lungs, and the muscles in her body no longer tensing up and getting softer in the heat, as she stood there for minutes on end.

As the water poured over her face she looked down at her arms, free of their bandages, making her expression becoming crestfallen. She reached for the tap, turning it and stopping the water. Slowly drawing back the curtain she looked around before reaching into her satchel and applying a fresh set of bandages on her arms.

In front of a dryer, Robin kneeled down wearing nothing but a dark blue towel as she put the clean clothes into her satchel. She took a moment to study her black and white trainers, looking underneath them to see their peculiar metal soles spotless. She smiled, satisfied with their cleanliness before she continued packing her clothes away, while putting another dirty set in the washing machine.

Robin walked down the empty corridor in her towel, with her satchel over her right shoulder and her new scroll in her left.

"It's a good thing everyone's meant to be in lesson's now. Otherwise I could never get away with walking around like this." Robin's face slowly went serious. "Still this is no time to get too comfortable. I'll rest up today, and tomorrow I'll start planning, I don't know how long I'll be here so I have to make the most of it."

Robin stopped in front of her room, swiping her scroll across the door making it unlock with a click, allowing her to push the door open with her foot. She walked into her new accommodation, looking around at the slightly creased bed and the open window. She relaxed, casually falling backwards onto the bed letting her look up at the ceiling.

"…!"

Robin suddenly felt something strange. An odd sixth sense, that someone, somewhere was watching her. Robin tried to ignore it but felt like she had to look around. She leaned up on the bed, holding the top fold of her towel, staring dead ahead.

And staring back at her was Kai. Sitting on the chair at his desk, in his Beacon uniform with a face as red as Voltorb's top half. The two trainers stared at each other in dead silence for a full minute, until finally Kai slowly got up out of his seat, walked towards the door and stepped out of the room in a calm manor.

Robin's eyes followed him as she sat there in shock.

* * *

Kai meanwhile was crouched with his back against the wall in the hall taking very deep inhales and exhales.

"That! I! Huh?! Wh-WHAT?!" Kai squealed. "Wait! What am I saying? Clearly that wasn't a… a… a, um… you know what." Kai reasoned with his hands tightly on his hat. "I'm just… seeing things. That's right, and those things just so happened to be for no real reason a-"

Kai slowly turned his head back to his room, seeing Robin in the hall, who was still in a towel.

"Can I help you?!" Robin asked in an annoyed tone.

Kai's face became redder as he pushed his fedora over his face. "I! Why did you?! I!? Um?!"

"You don't have to act like that, I can clearly tell you're not some creep. Clearly there's just been a serious mix-up with my room getting assigned to me."

Kai slowly got up and placed his hat off his face while avoiding eye contact. "Yes! I-!" Kai coughed clearing his throat. "That… that makes sense. I'm sorry if I'm making this uncomfortable, I just don't know how to deal with…" Kai repeatedly gestured his hand in a circular motion not wanting to say anything.

"A girl in a towel walking into your room."

"If you really want to be blunt about it then yes!" Kai quickly spat out, taking a heavy exhale.

"Shouldn't you be in a lesson right now?" Robin asked.

"I-I have a study period right now. Besides I could ask you the same thing."

"I just arrived here, so I'm not technically on the register yet."

"Wait you just arrived? So… does that mean you're here for the tournament?"

"Not exactly." Robin admitted.

"Okay? Well where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Kalos."

Kai and Robin flinched at the sound of a third voice, turning their heads to the end of the corridor to see Ozpin walking towards them.

Kai looked back and forth between him and Robin in a panic. "It's not what it looks like!"

Robin groaned. "Can you just stop the act? It's getting annoying."

"I would if I could, but I can't." Kai confessed, looking away. Suddenly his cheeks returned to their normal colour and Kai looked at Ozpin. "Wait, did you say Kalos?"

"Yes, I did." Ozpin stopped in front of the two. "Kai Emblem this is Robin Navy. Robin Navy this is Kai Emblem. I had arranged for the two of you to meet, though I didn't imagine it would go like this."

"So, you purposely made my scroll unlock his room, without bothering to tell me." Robin narrowed her eyes. "Actions like this are starting to make me regret my decision enrol here."

"My apologies, but I though it would be easier if you two got to know each other first before sharing your secret."

"Our secret?" Kai repeated.

"Surely you can figure it out on your own by now, can't you?" Ozpin teased.

Kai put his chin on his fist in thought. _'Our secret… When I asked where Robin was from…! Does that mean she's-!'_

Robin went into thought as well staring at Kai, she looked down at his waist noticing his Pokéball belt. _'Those things on his belt! Does that mean he's-?!'_

Both the trainer's eyes widened.

"You're a trainer too?!" The both exclaimed in unison.

Robin groaned. "I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner, his stupid embarrassment threw me off!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Let's just wait a minute here!" Kai got up taking a few breaths. "How did you get here? Is the way still open or-?"

"It's gone." Robin cut Kai off. "It was right in front of me and I just… I faltered at the last moment."

Kai looked down in disappointment. "I'm sorry."

Robin shot a look at Kai. "Don't say that! Why does everyone keep apologising?!"

Kai stepped back in surprised. "But I thought-?! Isn't that what you're meant to say?!"

"Now, now, what's done is done. There is no point dwelling on the past, learn from it and move on." Ozpin interrupted. "Now perhaps we should focus on getting the two of you acquainted."

Robin looked away. "I think I'll pass."

"Yeah I have to agree… I'm better at getting to know people at a… slower pace. When they're wearing more than a towel… I can't believe I just said that." Kai awkwardly explained.

"Well be that as it may, this academy was founded on the concept of bringing people from all walks of life together. And simply put, it is more convenient to have the two of you share accommodation than to reserve two separate rooms." Ozpin explained.

Kai looked at Robin, then quickly darted his eyes to the wall. "I suppose if it's easier for you, then I can… get used to the change."

Robin groaned. "If I must."

Ozpin smiled. "Glad that we are all in agreement, now before I leave you in peace, there is one more piece of news I need to share with you two."

Robin and Kai looked at Ozpin with intrigue.

"As you know General Ironwood wants to observe your Pokémon's capabilities himself, I recall Kai talking about a tradition you trainer's have called a… 'Pokémon battle'."

"It's more than just a tradition." Robin added.

"Regardless, would the two of you mind demonstrating one for us?"

Kai shot up. "Yes, of course! I've been wanting so long for this!"

"Hold on. How do I know you're worth my time?" Robin interrupted. "Show me your trainer card."

"My trainer card?"

"Surely you have one, this is if you're a _real_ trainer." Robin glared at Kai making him uncomfortably walk to his room.

"Fine, fine, give me a moment." Less than a minute later he came out. "All right, here it is." Kai held his blue trainer card in front of Robin making her freeze up. "Is there a problem."

"Give me that!" Robin snatched the card out of Kai's hands examining it thoroughly. "It can't be…" She looked accusingly at Kai. "Have caught all the Pokémon in the Pokédex?!"

"No! I um-!"

"What about the Battle Maison! Did you get a fifty-win streak?!"

"The Battle Maison?! I admit I tried it a couple of times, but it was never really my thing!"

Robin's eyes were wide in shock, before she had a serious expression on her face. "So, then that has to be the reason. It's the only one left." Robin started walking to the room with her eyes focused on Kai. "Very well, I'll face you in a battle. 3vs3 Battle Spot rules, Ozpin can give me the time and location." Robin walked into the room. "Now if you two will excuse me, I need to get changed, this bath towel is starting to get rather chilly." Robin slammed the door, locking it.

"… Did I just get kicked out of my own room?" Kai noticed.

"I suppose that is my cue to leave." Ozpin started walking to the end of the corridor. "Kai, could you please tell Robin to meet up on the Main Avenue at 5:30pm, we'll have the battle there."

"Sure thing Ozpin." Kai nodded.

"And one more thing Kai." Ozpin looked at Kai before going around the corner. "I'd wait a few minutes before stepping in there."

Kai thought to himself in confusion before remembering what Robin went in there to do. His cheeks went pink as he stood up straight against the wall. "Oh right!"

Kai exhaled, glad he was out of that sudden situation.

 _'_ _I may not know much about this girl, or what she's been through, but one thing's for certain.'_ Kai pumped his fist. _'I hope she gives it her all, because I've been waiting for this, and I won't be holding back!'_

* * *

 **So Kai and Robin have finally met, and I doubt anyone expected it would happen like that. And the way I see it, if Ren can get away with wearing a towel then I don't see how my OC can't.**

 **In other news I recently watched the live action Jojo movie, which I actually quite enjoyed. It's not really relevant, just thought I'd mention it.**

 **Either way until next time, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	36. Chapter 33: Controling power

**-Midday, Beacon Academy-**

Kai was standing outside his room. Just less than five maybe ten minutes in his head Kai experienced probably the most shocking event he had, had in Remnant so far, which was really saying something. He sighed through his nose as he was impatiently waiting for some sign to let him know if it was safe to return to his own room.

"How long does it take for girls to change anyway?" Kai talked to himself. "She's bound to be done by now right?" Kai went to unlock the door, but hesitated not wanting to go through the awkwardness of seeing her not fully clothed… again. "Maybe another two minutes." Kai moved his scroll away from the door.

"WHO ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?!" A loud angry voice called from inside the room.

It was quickly followed by the sound of something falling over, and a female voice saying something inaudible through the door.

"I forgot about his flight!" Kai quickly exclaimed unlocking the door and letting himself in.

He stepped in to the sight of Talonflame angrily flying in the middle of the room, along with Robin pressured against the wall with a worried and surprised look.

"I asked you a question! What are you doing in our room?!" Talonflame shouted. "AND THIS TIME YOU BETTER GIVE ME AN ANSWER!"

"You're… actually…" Robin struggled to say.

Kai quickly got in-between the two of them. "It's alright Talonflame! She's a trainer! Just like me!"

Talonflame eyed Robin in the corner, then looked at Kai who raised his arm to the side letting him land on it.

"Great. Another nuisance we have to put up with around here, this is starting to get ridiculous." Talonflame groaned in a much calmer tone.

"It's talking. You're Pokémon is…" Robin had her hands on the side of her head as she appeared visibly flustered.

Kai turned to her, and for the first time managed to get a good look at her. Robin's attire was similar to her regular outfit only without her red tie or the blue minidress, exposing her white sleeveless shirt and revealing that she also wears black shorts.

"Look Robin." Kai began to say. "This is going to sound crazy, so I'll just be honest. Right before I came to Remnant, I managed to teach my Pokémon how to speak our language. Now you probably have questions, and right now I can't answer them so let's make this simple and just say I did it with: a Pokémon with heightened mental capabilities, a lot of time, and a large number of reading material."

Robin managed to calm down clearing her throat. "I… What?!"

Kai sighed and Talonflame scoffed. "Don't bother wasting your breath." Talonflame stated. "Look lady, I don't care that you're a trainer, and I don't care that you're trying to piece together how I can talk, all I want to know is- WHY ARE YOU IN HERE?!"

Kai turned his head to Talonflame. "Ozpin said that she has to live in our dorm with us since we're both not from this world, for convenience."

"Finally, an answer." Talonflame looked at Kai. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Kai suddenly flinched checking his scroll. "Professor Port! I spent so long waiting to come in I lost track of time, I've only got three minutes to get to the other side of the school!" Kai grabbed Talonflame's Pokéball from his belt and returned him. Before looking for his bag by his desk. "Huh?"

On his desk, by the window, and spilled on the floor were green plant pots with clear plastic tops containing a variety of different berries.

"Berry pots?" Kai murmured, looking at Robin. "Are they yours?"

"Of course they're mine, how else do you think they got here?" Robin picked one of the fallen pots off the floor putting it by the window. "Didn't you say you were late for something?"

"Right!" Kai looked around noticing several items such as a: Town Map, Good Rod, Lucky Egg, empty Repels, empty honey pots, empty moomoo milk bottles, half eaten berry cores, Pokéballs and more littered all over the place. "Is all this junk also-?"

Before Kai could finish Robin shoved his yellow backpack in his arms. "This is your bag. And don't worry I put your trainer card inside it. Now go! Leave me in peace!"

"I- um- okay!" Kai walked outside the door into the hall. "Wait I have to tell you! Our battle is at 5:30 on the Main Aven-"

Robin slammed the door shut in Kai's face, before groaning and lying back on the bed.

"And now this world has talking Pokémon… This place just doesn't stop!" Robin angrily punched the wall.

* * *

Kai was running down the hallways the school stopping in front of the lecture theatre, looking at his scroll.

"All right *huff* only late by *puff* three minutes." Kai put his scroll away and pressed his hand against the door. "If I'm really subtle maybe nobody will notice."

Kai pushed the door open and walked in to see everyone with their eyes solely on him.

"What time do you call this then Mr Emblem?" Port asked.

 _'_ _Of course…'_ Kai thought.

"I suppose you have a good reason for your lack of punctuality." Port stated putting Kai on the spot.

 _'_ _Okay Kai, relax, relax. You've gotten the hang of improvising what you say, just say something based off the truth and make it believable.'_

"I… Couldn't get into my room to get my bag."

Port looked down at Kai with his closed eyes fixed on him. "Just don't let it happen again. Now hurry up and take your seat."

Kai exhaled in relief as she quickly took his seat next to Team's RWBY and JNPR, while Port began lecturing in the background.

"It's not like you to be late Kai." Ren pointed out.

"Is everything alright, you look a little red." Pyrrha asked.

"It's fine guys. I just got a little delayed and lost track of time." Kai explained. Kai pulled his notebook out his bag to take notes before awkwardly looking back and forth between the female Huntresses in training close to him. "How long does it take for you to get changed into a different set of clothes?"

The eight students looked at Kai with odd looks.

"Um… Why do you want to know?" Yang asked cautiously.

"It's… no it's nothing. It just might have been useful for future reference, I'll figure it out." The group just looked at Kai awkwardly. "I swear I don't want to know for a weird reason!"

"Suuu~ure you don't." Nora teased making Kai slam his face onto his open book.

"Oh Arceus, what am I going to do?" Kai muffled.

The others just turned to themselves in slight confusion and morbid curiosity.

* * *

Ironwood was inside the brig on one of his many airships flying over Vale's airspace. He stood with his arms behind his back, walking along the room.

 _"_ _She was able to hold her own against her?!" Ironwood cried in shock._

 _He along with Ozpin and Goodwitch were standing in Ozpin's office, minutes after she sent her message._

 _"_ _That is what Qrow told me. He witnessed it himself." Goodwitch calmly confirmed._

 _Ironwood rubbed his forehead. "If it was one of the other two then maybe I could believe it, but against the one that stole some of her power…"_

 _Ozpin calmly sat in his chair. "Was there anything else Qrow told you about their encounter?"_

 _Glynda shook her head. "Not much. Only that if she had suitable training, or was out of harm's way then her Pokémon might have been able to defeat her."_

 _Ironwood calmly put his hands to his side. "If I'm being honest, I'm not entirely sure if I should be relieved or not."_

 _"_ _That would depend on whether Team Flare has anyone with a similar level of skill and power." Ozpin stated. "So far, Kai and Robin appear to be much stronger than any of their forces, even their higher up scientists. We also have to take into account that this assailant is still unknown to us, and we have no idea how much fighting experience they have, and how much control they have over the power they took."_

 _"_ _Don't kid yourself Oz. She was able to take down Fall, even with her inexperience that is no small feat. And now someone else was almost able to take down her." Ironwood sighed. "These trainers possess too much power."_

 _"_ _As if you're one to talk General, or would you prefer headmaster." Goodwitch pointed out._

 _"_ _I earned my titles through hard work and loyalty to the kingdom."_

 _"_ _Are you saying their strength isn't deserved?" Ozpin asked._

 _"_ _I'm saying we don't know where their loyalties lie."_

 _"_ _James, while I can't say much for Miss Navy, as far as Kai's concerned, I can assure you that he appreciates my efforts to find a way home for him, he trusts me. He's on our side."_

 _"_ _But what if_ _ **she**_ _offers him the same opportunity?" Ironwood interrupted making the three go dead silent. "Right now, you have been the only one with the resources to help him. But if someone working for her convinces him they can do the same… what if he decides that's where his loyalties lie?"_

 _Ozpin looked at Ironwood seriously. "If somewhere working for_ _ **her**_ _were to contact the trainers, then we would hope for them to stay with us. As difficult as that might seem with some of us, already doubting their loyalties." Ozpin sighed. "James. These trainers might solve our recent problems. They may turn the tide in our favour and cripple their forces, then we can send them home before anymore harm can come to or from them."_

 _"_ _So that's your plan. You want them to take down who? Team Flare, the assailants, the entire Grimm population, the Queen herself?" Ironwood began walking away. "I may have faith in you Ozpin, but until I know for certain that they side with us, I can't afford to put my faith in them."_

 _"_ _They're just children." Goodwitch interrupted._

 _Ironwood glared back. "They're children in control of monsters."_

Ironwood stopped and stared in front of heavily guarded cell.

"Leave us." Ironwood ordered, making the guards walk off. "I've been informed that so far you've refused to co-operate with the authorities." Ironwood stated staring at the criminal in front of him.

From behind the bars Roman Torchwick stared back. "I know this might be hard to believe, General, but uh... I'm not the biggest fan of local law enforcement."

"How about the world's strongest military power?"

 **"** Hmm... first impressions... not great. "

 **"** I'm going to give you one chance. Who's really behind all this?"

 **"** Isn't it obvious?" Ironwood leans his ear toward him to hear his answer. "You're looking at him."

Ironwood leaned back. "Is that so? Because from what I've heard someone else has taken command. A man named Xerosic."

Torchwick shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Funny you say that, because we have witnesses who saw the two of you during one of your Dust robberies."

"You're going to have to be a lot more specific. This might surprise you, but I have stolen a LOT of Dust."

Ironwood looked seriously at Torchwick. "Yes, you have. Along with a majority of other crimes, including stealing and abusing Atlas technology. When you put all those charges together, you'll be lucky if you even live to see a prison cell."

Torchwick remained quiet, before smirking. "I'm sensing a but here."

Ironwood groaned, backing off. "But. You have vital information about Team Flare, and who you both work for. If you share that information with me, I may be able to afford you some luxuries you otherwise wouldn't have."

"Oh, I get it now. You're scared of all those little monsters the boy scout owns, the one's that hide in your closet and go bump in the night." Torchwick chuckled. "And I bet it's killing you inside that you can't just lock them in a cage, or order them around like your other tin cans. Too chaotic to control, but too orderly to take action, don't you just hate that?"

"Tell me what I want to know, or deal with the consequences of fighting the Atlas military." Ironwood threatened.

Torchwick casually leaned back in his cell. "I'll take my chances."

Ironwood started walking away _._ "Hm… Very well then."

 **"** What's the matter General? I thought you wanted to talk." Torchwick joked.

 **"** The council's given me custody over you for as long as I see fit. So you can make yourself comfortable. I can be sure that you'll have plenty of time to talk."

 **"** Oh, wonderful. Hehehe..." Torchwick laughed to himself as the holding cell door closed, locking him in dark isolation.

* * *

Kai walked to his room now dressed in his trainer attire, he cleared his throat and knocked on the door.

After a few seconds Robin opened it, revealing that she was now wearing her complete trainer attire. "Why did you knock?"

"I didn't want to interrupt you, in case you were… you know…" Kai struggled, making Robin narrow her eyes. "Don't make me say it."

Robin sighed through her nose letting Kai in. "Are you always this hopelessly pathetic?"

"Would you believe me if I said, I'm actually slowly getting better." Kai stepped in to his or rather their room with a very confused look on his face.

Parallel to his bed, was an identical bed. One of his two closets was now filled with Robin's clothes. And the same items were littered on the floor along with newer ones making Kai sweat drop.

"You've really settled in, haven't you?" Kai remarked.

"What was that?" Robin interrogated.

"Um! Nothing! I was just saying… I'm glad you've settled in."

Robin looked unimpressed, turning her back on Kai, walking into the hallway.

"I'm heading out, might as well explore this place for a bit." Robin explained.

"But what about our battle it's-"

"In two hours, on the Main Avenue, which I already know how to get to. You better not be late."

"Don't you want to, I don't know… get to know each other a little first?" Kai suggested.

Robin looked over her shoulder at Kai. "Not particularly. And based on your reactions to seeing me, I doubt you want to either."

Robin closed the door behind her, leaving Kai to leave think for a moment before hunching over. "Yeah. You're probably right." He looked around noticing all of Robin's stuff littering the place. "This is gonna take a while to organise."

Outside the door in the hall five sets of eyes were fixated on Robin. Four from a crack in a door, and one sneakily getting away. When Robin was gone, the cracked door opened revealing Team RWBY with gaping mouths.

"Was that… a girl?" Ruby asked.

"Obviously. The bigger question is what was she doing in Kai's room?" Weiss added.

"I don't remember seeing her before. Maybe she's a transfer student from one of the other academies?" Blake guessed.

"You don't think that she's Kai's…" Yang trailed off looking at her teammates. "Nah! Not with his awkwardness."

"Then why was she in Kai's room. It took him weeks before he was comfortably enough to invite me, Ren and Nora over." Blake explained.

"He knocked before entering…" Weiss thought out loud. "Kai did say he was late because he couldn't get into his room. Was it because she wouldn't let him in?"

"Yeah, and when we asked him if there was anything wrong, he seemed kinda squirrely about it." Yang remembered. "And then he asked that weird question about how long it took for us to get dressed."

The pieces suddenly began to come together in Team RWBY's collective mind, completing itself with a ding.

"Did that girl change her clothes in Kai's room?" Ruby suggested awkwardly.

"That sounds completely ridiculous." Weiss judged.

"And you weren't thinking it?" Blake asked.

"Of course I was thinking it, it just doesn't seem plausible enough to be true. Why would Kai even allow someone to do that in the first place, we all know how he is." Weiss pointed out making Team RWBY collectively think of times where Kai was overly awkward with them for one reason or another.

Ruby suddenly got in between them with her hand raised. "I know! We should follow her!"

"You want to stalk her?"

"No! I mean kind of." Ruby looked to her team determined. "Look we all overheard what happened, for some reason the two are going to be having some kind of fight. Maybe this girl is bullying him."

"Well it's not like he can't handle himself." Blake reminded, thinking about his fight with Cardin.

"But this is different! Look, if Kai's in trouble then we should help him, and we can't do that without figuring out what's going on. So come on, who's with me?"

Yang smirked. "You can count me in."

"After everything Kai's done for me, it feels selfish of me to not try and help him." Blake confessed.

"I suppose I should come too, to make sure things don't get too out of hand." Weiss explained.

"Great!" Ruby cheered charging into the hall. "What are we standing around then for, we need to catch up to her before we lose her!"

"Ruby wait up!" Blake cried out, following her.

"I just realised. We could probably just ask Kai." Weiss realised.

Yang shrugged her shoulders. "He denied he was in trouble before besides, where's the fun in doing that?"

Yang hurried out of the room, Weiss wanted to rebuttal but just shook her head catching up to the others.

* * *

In a different hallway on the Eastern wing, Emerald was walking quickly but calmly to her room.

"Wait 'til Merc hears about this." She said to herself when she let herself into her dorm. "Cinder!"

Sitting on the bed was Cinder in Haven's school uniform, with Mercury sitting at the side. "Look who finally showed up." Mercury commented.

"I- I thought you were going to be gone for a few days." Emerald said in surprise.

"I was, but as I was just telling Mercury here, I ran into… an inconvenience." Cinder grimaced.

"Turns out that Huntsman who stopped us before was nearby so Team Flare captured him." Mercury explained.

"Isn't that good though. If he's captured-"

"Was captured." Mercury interrupted. "Turns out he was saved by, and get this… another Pokémon trainer." Mercury dramatically shook his hands. "Now can you see why you know who's in a bad mood?"

"Are you alright?" Emerald asked Cinder in concern.

"It was nothing I couldn't handle, if those Team Flare goons did their jobs then the trainer would be dead." Cinder stated. "But unfortunately, that's when _he_ showed up and saved her, forcing me to retreat."

"So, what do we do now?"

" _We_ stick to the plan. Team Flare is Xerosic's problem, we have our own. Most notably the fact that Ozpin will probably recruit this trainer too."

"This trainer… They wouldn't happen to have raven coloured hair and have bandaged arms, would she?"

Cinder glared at Emerald. "You've seen her."

"Y-Yeah. She was talking with the other trainer, apparently they're meeting up at five to have a battle or something."

"Interesting." Cinder got up. "Did you happen to hear where this battle is meant to take place?"

Mercury slyly smiled, and Emerald smirked.

* * *

Two hours came and went, and it was almost time for the battle. Ozpin was standing by the Huntsman statue with Kai, who was awkwardly tapping his foot.

"It's certainly… nice." Kai commented.

"I should hope so, given how it's to commemorate our academies history and status, and to celebrate all the Huntsman who have fought to protect the peace." Ozpin lectured.

"Right…" Kai sighed. "Look I've been trying not to ask but… Why didn't you tell me about another trainer being here?"

Ozpin looked down at Kai. "What would you have done?"

"Excuse me?"

"What would you have done if I told you? Would you have abandoned the academy as soon as you could to find them and a way home? Would you have sat around patiently until I could confidently say that it could get you home? Some combination perhaps?"

Kai put his head on his chin. "I… I'm not sure. But I was just searching for a lead days ago and found nothing, now I found out you've been hiding one from me and I have to think… have there been more of these?"

Ozpin hummed to himself. "A few. But those were all false alarms."

"And you don't want to tell me this?! I-?!"

"Do you remember the clothes I gave you?" Ozpin interrupted.

Kai blinked awkwardly. "Yeah I do. But how does that link to-?"

"And do you remember the note I attached with them?" Kai went silent thinking about it. "I believe that keeping you here: safe, calm and protected is the best course of action for your safety. We wouldn't want you eaten by a Grimm or stirring up trouble in the city, now would we?"

"I guess…" Kai sighed. "It's still disheartening though."

"So, there you are."

Robin walked up to Kai and Ozpin. "And part of me thought you weren't going to show up."

Kai smirked. "Like I have a choice. You and I both know it's an unspoken rule that when our eyes meet, we have to battle."

"That would mean you were looking at my eyes and not at the nearest wall."

"You make it sound like you wanted me to stare at you!"

Robin groaned. "Can we just get this started, I've had the strangest feeling like someone's been watching me."

Unbeknownst to Robin, Team RWBY were watching her from a reasonably discreet distance.

"Looks like Professor Ozpin's here as well." Ruby pointed out.

"Why would he be here? I doubt our headmaster would just allow two students to fight in front of him." Weiss questioned.

"Maybe he's here to make sure things don't go too far." Yang suggested.

"I don't know, something about this doesn't feel like it's going to be a regular sparring match." Blake confessed.

On a different side of the avenue: Emerald, Mercury and Cinder were waiting in anticipation.

"So, who do you bet's gonna win?" Mercury asked.

"Do you have to be so immature?" Emerald judged.

"What? Too chicken to make a bet."

"Settle down Mercury, this isn't a sport it's research." Cinder explained. "One day we WILL take them out once Ozpin's eye is off them, but until then we should figure out their weaknesses. That way when the time comes… We can destroy them."

A set of footsteps walked towards Ozpin, Kai and Robin. They turned to see Ironwood walking towards them.

"Apologies for being late, I had something that I needed to attend to." Ironwood looked at Kai and Robin. "So, how do you initiate a… Pokémon battle?"

"Well, you just bring your Pokémon out and get them to fight. It's not too difficult." Kai explained.

"The rules for this battle are that it will be a 3vs3 single battle with substitutions allowed at any time. This is typically the standard for single battles." Robin added.

"I see." Ironwood commented in understanding.

"Well then, the two of you can begin when ready." Ozpin consented.

Kai and Robin looked at each other walking forward slowly. The two walked a large distance, with Robin standing in place close to the third-quarter of the avenue. Kai continued walking even further, standing just on the edge of the first-quarter.

"This is probably big enough." Kai said to himself standing in place.

"Then let's get this started." Robin declared.

The three groups of spectators made their way closer to the action while still keeping their distance.

Kai hovered his hand over his belt finally selecting one of his Pokéballs. "This one." He stared at the ball in his hand. "Let's show this girl what we're made of!"

Robin more calmly rummaged her hand in her belt pouch grabbing one of her Pokéballs, examining it and enlarging it. "Don't disappoint me."

The two trainers locked eyes over the distance pulling their arms back, ready to throw.

"Talonflame! Let's do this!"

"Beartic! Prepare for battle!"

The two trainers threw their Pokéballs in the middle, sending out their Pokémon in a white flash.

"I've been itching for a decent fight! Don't wimp out on me!" Talonflame threatened.

"Beartic Bear. (Same here.)" Beartic growled.

In the back Team RWBY were in awe.

"She's a trainer too!" Blake cried out.

"Suddenly everything makes more sense… except for the part with the clothes." Yang admitted.

"So cool!" Ruby cheered. "Kick her butt Kai!"

"Shh. We're not supposed to even be here!" Weiss chided.

"Kick her butt Kai…" Ruby whispered, making Weiss shake her head in annoyance.

Kai thrust his arm outwards. "The first move is mine! **Talonflame use Flame Charge!** "

Talonflame flapped his wings flying straight at Beartic in surge of fire. Beartic stood calmly staring Talonflame down.

" **Use Aqua Jet!** Hit it from the side!" Robin ordered.

Beartic growled, pushing himself off his feet as he blitzed off to Talonflame's side. Before Talonflame could turn, Beartic came back round slamming Talonflame's side extinguishing his flames. He was sent tumbling through the air, forcing himself to adjust his position so his talons scraped across the ground creating sparks.

Talonflame flapped open his wings making embers and steam come off him, as his body came to a complete holt. "This guy hits hard. I'll give him that."

"Woah, he just out sped Talonflame." Ruby pointed out.

"With his size and Talonflame in the air, I didn't think that was possible." Yang commented.

"Maybe it was something to do with that move, like with Aegislash's Shadow Sneak." Blake realised.

Kai concentrated on the battle focusing on Beartic. "If fire won't work let's try steel. **Talonflame use Steel Wing!** "

Talonflame grunted making his wings metallic. He used his legs to push himself into the air, gliding at Beartic.

Robin pointed forward. " **Icicle Crash!** "

Beartic unleashed a stream of frigid air over Talonflame forming a thick cloud over his flight path.

"It wasn't even aiming in the right direction." Ironwood commented.

"Perhaps, or perhaps that was never his target." Ozpin assumed, making Ironwood look on in curiosity.

Icicles suddenly rained over Talonflame's head smashing around him.

"Talonflame evasive manoeuvres!" Kai warned.

Talonflame flew upwards, straightening his body while flying around continuously, weaving in and out of the icicles, smashing some that got too close with his Steel Wing.

Robin observed from afar with a neutral look on her face. "Predictable. **Beartic use Aqua Jet!** "

Beartic lunged upwards into the air surrounded by pressurised water.

"Talonflame watch out! **Block it with** **Steel Wing!** "

Talonflame looked ahead seeing Beartic coming just in time. He spread his wings apart making Beartic slightly widen his eyes.

"Not again!" Talonflame swiped his wings together right as Beartic made contact, obscuring them in an explosion of vapour.

The two Pokémon quickly fell out of the explosion. Talonflame quickly flapping his wings to steady himself in mid-air and Beartic flipped out of a free fall, cracking the ground with his weight as he landed on all fours.

"Beartic. (Impressive.)" Beartic complemented.

"You thought that was impressive! I haven't even been trying yet!" Talonflame looked at his trainer. "Kai!"

Kai nodded. "Go right ahead Talonflame! **Use Acrobatics!** "

Talonflame flapped his wings becoming a blur. He rammed into Beartic's face before he could react knocking him upwards. Before he could respond Talonflame slammed into Beartic's side knocking him off balance. Then the other side, then the back, the front, and everywhere else over and over again, as an orange blur made of after images.

"He's been holding back his speed!" Robin cried out gritting her teeth.

Talonflame finished Beartic off by ramming upwards into his chest and chin, launching him upwards into the air.

" **Use Flame Charge while he's vulnerable!** " Kai shouted.

Talonflame cried out as he lit himself in flames, shooting himself at Beartic. He rammed into his gut making him gag before scraping over his front sending him spiralling to the ground. Talonflame flew back around to Kai with an orange aura, signifying his speed increasing.

In the distance Cinder gave a subtle smirk.

"Are you smiling?" Mercury noticed. "That is so creepy."

"Don't get the wrong idea, it's just satisfying seeing that beast getting beaten, even if it's not by my own hand." Cinder justified.

"Well you better stop, and not because it's creepy. Look." Mercury pointed at Beartic slowly getting up with singed fur and scratches.

Robin clenched her fists. "I let my guard down because of how he acted. I couldn't believe that he was one of the few trainers who defeated the champion. Well that ends now."

Kai on the other hand was smiling proudly. "Good job Talonflame. Now let's wrap this up! **Use Flame Charge!** "

Talonflame lit himself in flames, flying at Beartic at high speeds.

" **Intercept with Superpower!** "

Beartic's body flared up in orange fighting spirit highlighting his muscles, standing firm with his front legs out straight.

"Push right through!" Kai ordered.

"I PLAN TO!" Talonflame cried out.

With one final push Talonflame accelerated colliding with Beartic's paws. Beartic moaned as the force made him lean back before regaining his footing, keeping Talonflame in a stalemate as the two growled at each other.

"I'm not backing down!" Talonflame yelled, his flames burning Beartic's paws.

"Beartic… Bear… BEAR! (Neither… will… I!)"

Beartic tightly grabbed Talonflame's wings lifting him above his head, extinguishing his fire type attack.

"What?!" Kai shouted in shock.

"Now Beartic! Pin him!" Robin snapped her fingers.

Beartic roared slamming him down into the ground, making dust, debris and hot winds fly. When they disappeared Beartic was seen over Talonflame as a blue aura fell over him. Talonflame groaned, his body partially embedded in the ground and his wings trapped under the weight of Beartic's paws.

"Talonflame get up!"

Talonflame struggled in place, Beartic's weight and physical strength making him unable to move.

"I've had enough of this. **Beartic use Sheer Cold!** " Robin ordered.

"Sheer Cold?!" Kai cried out.

Beartic craned his head, opening his snout taking a deep breath. His body gave off an icy aura causing the air to go ice cold and frost to form around him, even on some of Talonflame's feathers.

"Wait! Her Pokémon has access to one of **those** moves!" Ironwood realised.

"Care to explain?" Ozpin asked his fellow headmaster.

"While scanning Kai's Pokédex I found a section on moves, one particular group that caught my eye was One-Hit KO moves. As the name implies as long as the Pokémon isn't immune to the type, it can knock out a Pokémon in a single hit. If that were used on anything other than a Pokémon…"

"And there are no other drawbacks?" Ozpin interrupted.

"There is one thing. Its accuracy varies on the level or strength of its opponent, making it hard to land on stronger opponents."

"Then that would explain why Miss Navy has only chosen to use it after she's pinned Kai's Talonflame. She clearly knows how to use her power carefully, some of my students could learn that restraint."

Kai meanwhile was starting to feel a chill go up his spine. "Don't give up Talonflame! You can break free!"

"Don't waste your time." Robin interrupted. "If you don't have a strategy and you're just randomly yelling at your Pokémon, then you might as well do nothing."

Beartic looked down at Talonflame. "Beartic Beartic. Beartic Beartic Bear Beartic Beartic. (She speaks the truth. You have been a strong opponent, but this is where I finish you.

Talonflame just grunted, suffering from the pressure and the cold. Beartic just looked away until he felt a peculiar sensation on his paws… warmth.

"That's… what… you think…" Talonflame said weakly, his body beginning to glow. "But… ME AND KAI ARE STRONGER THAN YOU REALISE!"

Talonflame's body glowed intensely, the heat on Beartic's paws increasing.

"Beartic-?! (What's this-?!)" Suddenly Beartic's body erupted into flames causing him to cry out in pain. "BEEAAARRR!"

"Where did that burst in strength come from?!" Robin shouted in surprise.

Ruby's eye's lit up. "That's Talonflame's ability!"

"Flame Body I remember." Blake realised. "He used that in his fight with Jaune and against the Paladin to weaken them."

Kai just smirked proudly from a distance. "If I was able to pry myself away from an Ursa Major, then there was no chance your Beartic could keep my Talonflame down. Now hurry Talonflame! Escape before he uses that move!"

"Now Beartic! **Unleash the Sheer Cold!** " Robin shouted in a panic.

Talonflame used his wings to push Beartic off him and stood on his talons. He quickly began to run across the ground, using his legs to pick up speed like a Fletchling skipping on the pavement. Beartic's cold aura expelled the flames as he swiped his arms forward making a cold wave of ice pulse out of him, freezing over the Main Avenue. Talonflame flapped his wings managing to hover over the ground, seeing the wave come towards him, as it glimmered in his eyes. Everyone else was forced to cover up as the ice brightly reflected the light and unleashed freezing winds, until they eventually subsided.

Kai was the first to uncover as he stared at the terraformed battlefield. "Woah…"

The others soon recovered and looked on in varying levels of shock. The Main Avenue was covered in a thick layer of ice along with several jagged ice spikes between the two trainers.

Robin breathed out, her breath misting up in front of her face. "Did it hit?"

Beartic looked out at the frozen battlefield before combusting into flames, taking burn damage. It quickly disappeared, though his body showed small flames over him. "Bear…?"

"Do you see him?" Yang asked Ruby.

"Let's see. Ice, ice, more ice…" Ruby listed.

"I don't think he's there." Blake suggested.

"Then where could he have gone?" Weiss asked.

Kai more than the others was looking around for Talonflame, when it finally hit him. He looked up to the sky, seeing a faint orange light flickering in the clouds, making him smile.

"All right Talonflame finish Beartic off!" Kai ordered raising his index finger skyward.

Robin looked at Kai seriously. "Where is he?!"

The faint sound of wind in the distance distracted Robin as she looked up, seeing an orange light getting brighter, and coming down fast.

"That move! Beartic watch out that's-!"

Before she could finish Talonflame gave his cry, making Beartic look up at the sky seeing Talonflame rushing down out of the sky, his Flame Body keeping him hot in the cold environment.

" **FLY!** " Talonflame and Kai screamed, Kai dramatically swiping his arm down as he did.

Talonflame crashed on top of Beartic creating an explosion of dust and mist. The sudden change in temperature made the air expand rapidly, forcing Robin to brace herself as the warm air passed her bandage covered arms.

When it cleared Robin stood in shock and awe. "Impossible… He didn't even command him and yet-" Beartic was lying down on the broken ice, knocked out with swirled eyes. "They still managed to win…"

"TALONFLAAAAAAAME!" Talonflame cheered as he rose into the sky, his body a beacon of heat and light.

"That was so awesome!" Ruby cheered. "Way to go Kai! Way to go Talonflame!"

"Ruby be quiet!" Weiss said in a hushed tone.

"Come on Weiss, even if they did find us, it's not like we're meant to be somewhere else." Yang pointed out.

"And considering that was only the first round. There's no way anyone is going to make me miss the rest of this." Blake added.

Ozpin looked at Ironwood smiling. "You must admit, this is rather thrilling isn't it. Not to mention the use of strategy from both sides is rather impressive."

"It's rather sloppy if you ask me… but it's not bad." Ironwood admitted.

"Woah. That was intense." Emerald commented.

"Meh. I could have taken him." Mercury said nonchalantly.

"Perhaps this reconnaissance will be more interesting than I gave it credit for." Cinder said, intrigued.

Kai adjusted his hat, as Talonflame flew by his side. "I told you that I've been waiting for this! And I'm just warming up!"

* * *

 **And right as the battle heat's up I decide to end the chapter, apologies but I this is what happens when I try to keep my word counts somewhat consistent. Regardless the next chapter will be the last in the Arrival arc, so I hope you all look forward to it's conclusion.**

 **I should probably also mention that we now get to see Beartic's speech translated. As a general rule of thumb Pokémon translations will be done in two instances:**

 **1\. The Pokémon is on their own, or speaking to relatively unimportant characters E.g. Team Flare Grunts**

 **2\. The Pokémon is talking to another Pokémon who will naturally react to what they are saying.**

 **Either way until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	37. Chapter 34: A trainer's pride

**-Afternoon, Beacon Academy-**

Robin stood with her teeth clenched and her fists bawled, looking down at her defeated Beartic. She pulled out his Pokéball returning him. "Don't get cocky, this battle is far from over." Robin bitterly declared.

"Yeah, yeah, just hurry and bring out your next Pokémon. Now that I'm all fired up, I'll finish this faster than it takes for me to lap this place." Talonflame challenged.

Robin rummaged through the pouch on her belt, bringing out a peculiar Pokéball. Unlike the other Pokéballs this one had a blue top with black markings similar to webbing.

"What's that?" Ruby asked.

"It's looks like a Pokéball but its design is different." Weiss answered.

"Do you think that means there's something unique about it?" Blake guessed.

"Only one way to find out." Yang stated.

Kai stared at the ball narrowing his eyes. "A Net Ball. That means she's most likely going with a Water type to get an advantage."

"Type advantage or not, I'll still crush her." Talonflame declared.

Robin threw the ball forward. "Prepare for battle!"

The ball opened in mid-air sending out the Pokémon inside. The Pokémon was a cyan-coloured shrimp with a single black stripe on each of its body segments. It has two claws, with the right one much larger than the left one. The smaller claw is blue, with a yellow tip and black stripe and the large claw is dark blue, with a pair of yellow antennae and three black stripes. Its face had a black stripe across it and yellow semi-circular eyes.

"Clawitzer Claw! (Orders Captain!)" The Pokémon cried.

"A Clawitzer…" Kai brought out Talonflame's Pokéball. "Talonflame I'm calling you back."

"WHAT?! I CAN TAKE HER!" Talonflame argued, flying in front of Kai's face.

"I know, but everyone wants to battle today even though only three of you can, if I keep you in it'll be unfair to them." Kai reasoned, making Talonflame scrunch up his face and growl.

"All right fine! But if they get knocked out, you throw me back in!"

Kai smiled. "Deal." Kai returned Talonflame to his ball, placing him back on his belt as he picked another one up. "Your turn Aegislash!"

The capsule opened summoning Aegislash. "My blade is at your service Sire!"

"So, Kai's gone with her." Weiss pointed out, staring at Aegislash from afar.

"Are you still upset at her?" Yang asked. "You fought once and you won, I thought you'd be over it."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Weiss denied.

"Shh, they look like they're about to continue." Blake interrupted, her interest peaked.

"Since you just substituted, I'm moving first!" Robin pointed at Aegislash. " **Clawitzer use Water Pulse!** "

Clawitzer opened her large claw, aiming it at Aegislash. "Claw Claw Claw! (Aye aye Captain!)"

"Block it Aegislash!" Kai ordered.

A pressurised water cannonball shot out of the claw exploding on contact with Aegislash's shield, obscuring her in a vapor explosion.

"O~okay, was not expecting that." Yang awkwardly commented.

"It's claw is a cannon!" Ruby awed.

"Did you forget that we're meant to be rooting for Kai?" Blake asked.

"Of course not, that shrimp may be _part_ weapon but Aegislash _is_ a weapon! I'd hold her in my hands if she wasn't an intangible ghost!"

Weiss didn't comment as she stared at the vapour explosion.

Kai suddenly thrusted his hand forward. "Aegislash now! **Use Iron Head!** "

A faint clink was heard. Aegislash charged out of the vapour in Blade Forme, with her mantle widened as she charged towards Clawitzer.

"Did you think I wouldn't see that coming?!" Robin declared putting her thumb and finger together. "Clawitzer jump!"

Robin snapped her fingers, at that moment pressurised water streamed out of the nozzle on the back of Clawitzer's large claw shooting her up into the air.

"It can shoot water out the front and the back!" Ironwood commented in surprise.

"It's amazing how Pokémon almost never fail to surprise you, time and time again." Ozpin noted as he stared at Clawitzer ascending into the air.

Robin narrowed her eyes. "Blocking an attack with Aegislash's shield, using my attack as cover and counter attacking, I've seen it a hundred times before. And now you're wide open!" Robin swiped her arm. " **Clawitzer use Dark Pulse!** "

Clawitzer rotated in mid-air while the inside of her claw was filled with a negative, black, and purple aura. "Claw Clawitzer! (Rest in Pisces!)"

A concentrated wave of dark aura pulsated out of the claw, shooting straight down towards Aegislash.

" **Aegislash use King's Shield!** " Kai ordered.

Aegislash spun, sheathing herself into Shield Forme generating a barrier made of light blue hexagons, making the Dark Pulse wash over her. The attack subsided as Clawitzer landed opposite of Aegislash, the moment her shield dissipated.

"Phew, close one." Kai admitted. His eyes scanned the battlefield, then Clawitzer, then Robin. "Glad to know you're not holding back!"

Robin didn't respond instead focusing on Aegislash's back facing her.

 _'_ _If I can't take her out in Blade Forme, then I'll just have to wear her down in Shield Forme!'_ Robin realised.

" **Clawitzer use Water Pulse!** Rapid fire!" Robin ordered.

Clawitzer aimed her claw at Aegislash with a click.

" **Aegislash strike first with Shadow Sneak!** " Kai declared.

Aegislash quickly snapped into Blade Forme, sending her shadow under Clawitzer. Before her or Robin could react, the shadow erupted launching Clawitzer into the air.

"Didn't see that coming did you?" Kai taunted.

"No, but only because of how dumb that was." Robin pointed at Aegislash. "You just left your Aegislash wide open!"

Clawitzer adjusted herself in the air, bringing out her claw and raining down Water Pulse after Water Pulse.

"Dodge it Aegislash!"

Aegislash hovered over the battlefield from side to side, avoiding the cannonballs as they broke apart the ground forcing Aegislash to use her shield to block debris and water from splashing on her.

"Must your attacks be so messy, it is highly undignified." Aegislash critiqued.

"Claw Claw Clawitzer Clawitzer? (Must you be so stilted?)" Clawitzer fired another Water Pulse in front of Aegislash forcing her to leap back. "Clawitzer. (Gotcha.)"

Clawitzer fired a final Water Pulse right at Aegislash, homing in on her fast with no room to dodge.

Kai pushed his arm forward. "Aegislash parry!"

Aegislash's eye reflected the image of the Water Pulse. She quickly swiped her shield in front of her, blocking the attack and redirecting it away where it exploded in the distance.

Robin's eyes widened in surprise. "What was that?!"

"Just a little something me and Aegislash have been working on to help dodge attacks." Kai pointed at Clawitzer. " **Now use Shadow Sneak!** "

Aegislash slashed in mid-air making her shadow squirm in front of her and rise into mid-air knocking Clawitzer into a spiralling free-fall.

" **Clawitzer use Dark Pulse!** " Robin quickly commanded.

Clawitzer filled her claw with dark aura, and stared at Aegislash upside down, narrowing her vision. She quickly fired a pulse of darkness with precision accuracy right at her.

" **Use King's Shield!** "

Aegislash quickly snapped back into Shield Forme generating her barrier to block the attack as it exploded surrounding her in a dust cloud.

Robin gritted her teeth. "While she's blinded! **Use Aqua Jet!** "

Clawitzer straightened herself out in mid-air, opening the nozzle on her claw's back. Her body was surrounded in water as she shot herself forward through the air like a torpedo right at Aegislash.

"Clawitzer's coming for you straight on! **Use Slash!** "

From inside the dust Aegislash's eye narrowed, as she slowly begun to sheath herself, her serrated sides glowing.

"Accelerate!" Robin shouted causing Clawitzer to speed up.

"Here she comes!" Kai warned, making Aegislash prepare herself.

Clawitzer charged into the cloud, right as Aegislash unsheathed herself. A loud clash was heard, forcing the dust to dissipate. In slow-motion Aegislash was seen moving one direction with a yellow streak behind her. Behind her Clawitzer was seen rushing past in a veil of water. Time begun to speed up as Aegislash straightened herself out, floating above the ground with her shield out to the side in a dramatic pose. Suddenly the water surrounding Clawitzer was sliced in half, showing her body covered in scratches.

"Claw… itzer…? (Is this… for eel…?)" Clawitzer fell on her front with spiralled eyes, defeated.

Aegislash's eye was narrowed as she stared right at her Sire. "I have already lost one foolish bout in this world, a mistake I won't repeat ever again."

From afar Weiss gave a small smile. "Not bad, for a servant."

Elsewhere Mercury chuckled looking at Cinder. "You seriously almost lost to her."

"Mercury, shut it." Emerald snapped.

"What? She's lost twice in a row."

Cinder just stared at Robin, then at Kai. "Perhaps she's not as strong as I thought, or perhaps he's a bigger threat than I gave him credit for."

Aegislash floated back to Kai, bowing. "I can only hope my performance was satisfactory Sire."

"Of course it was, you won! You've really grown in these past few months." Kai complemented rubbing the top of her handle and bringing out her Pokéball. "Now rest up for now, you've earned it."

"As you command Sire." Kai returned Aegislash before staring across the battlefield at Robin.

Robin's bangs were over her eyes as she had her head down, she returned Clawitzer without a word, before placing her ball back in her pouch. Kai stared at her, getting the feeling that something was wrong.

"Are you feeling alright? If you're not feeling well, we can put this on hold-"

"I'm fine!" Robin shot back bringing out her last Pokéball from her pouch. "Chesnaught prepare for battle!"

Chesnaught came out roaring, and stomping his feet on the ground, psyching himself up.

"If you're sure…" Kai put his chin on his fist.

 _'_ _Talonflame would make the most sense but he's already fought, so maybe Noivern or Slurpuff.'_ Kai thought to himself until he felt an odd sensation around his waist. One of his Pokéballs was slightly shaking.

Kai selected the Pokéball, holding it in his palm. "Are you sure?" Kai stared into the top of the ball seeing a faint image of the Pokémon inside nodding. "Alright then! Do it pal!"

Kai threw the Pokéball high into the air where it opened its contents sending a bright white light down to the ground. The recoil made the ball fly back into Kai's palm as the Pokémon formed.

Navy gritted her teeth. "Are you being serious, or are you just playing with me?!"

Standing on the battlefield on his two hind legs, with his two front legs crossed, Greninja stared at his opponent.

"Oh, are we _not_ playing? I'm sorry I get so confused sometimes." Greninja joked. "But seriously, I've been as excited for a fight as Kai over there, so there's no way I'm sitting on the side-lines." Greninja pulled back his front toes and pointed them at Ironwood like they were finger guns. "Yo! General! Have you been enjoying the show?!"

Ironwood remained stern with his eyes behind his back, and his posture straight.

"Are you not going to give him an answer?" Ozpin asked.

"I would prefer not to." Ironwood answered.

Greninja pulled his legs back and got into his crouched battle position. "All right! Let's do this! You ready big guy?!"

Chesnaught looked at Greninja and grinned. "Chesnaught Chesnaught Ches! (Oh I'm going to enjoy this!)

Robin just looked at Kai smiling at her, making her fists ball tighter. "This looks bad but I can still win this…" She whispered. "Greninja is at a severe type disadvantage and his other two Pokémon have already taken damage and are physically offensive, a poor match against Chesnaught's high defence… I can still win this…"

Kai stared at Robin, then at Greninja. "Greninja let's give this everything we've got."

Greninja nodded. "I hear ya."

Kai took a breath before sending his arm out. " **Greninja start this off with Water Shuriken!** "

Greninja quickly got two blobs of water from the stars on his legs, compressing them in his front feet, throwing three shuriken.

"Chesnaught block it!" Robin commanded.

Chesnaught raised his arms up, making the shuriken collide with them, breaking them up into water droplets, dealing not very effective damage.

"How many times have I told you to block with your shell?!" Robin yelled making Chesnaught look back in shock.

"Hey man, is she always that cranky?" Greninja asked. "Because if she is hoo boy, I don't envy you."

Robin narrowed her eyes. " **Use Seed Bomb now!"**

Chesnaught turned back in a hurry around spitting combustible seeds at Greninja.

"Dodge it Greninja!" Kai warned, allowing Greninja to move out of the way with time to spare.

The seeds hit the ground creating a large explosion, lighting up Ironwood's eyes.

"It's seeds… can be used as explosives…" Ironwood awed.

"Nature truly is a powerful resource. Unlike us, plants hardly waste energy. You could take a page out of their book." Ozpin suggested.

"It's rather difficult to find greenery in Atlas this time of year."

"Given all your technological feats, you mean to tell me you can't design a simple greenhouse."

Greninja ran towards Chesnaught, with Kai keeping his eyes on him.

" **Use Aerial Ace!** " Kai ordered, making Greninja blur in acceleration.

" **Chesnaught use Spiky Shield!** " Robin snapped her fingers.

Chesnaught brought his arms together forming his shield, the protruding spikes making Greninja's eyes widen.

"Oh no." Greninja deadpanned before flying straight into them, bouncing off them onto the ground massaging his front legs. "Ow, that stings."

Chesnaught trotted up to Greninja cracking his knuckles. "Chesnaught Chesnaught Chesnaught. CHES! (Just to warn you this is probably gonna hurt. A LOT!)

" **Use Hammer Arm!** " Robin shouted.

Chesnaught's arms glowed orange as he raised them high.

"Greninja roll!" Kai warned.

Greninja quickly rolled on his side dodging the attack as bits of debris and small chunks of ice flew into the air.

"After him!"

"Just keep dodging until you get an opening!"

"NAUGHT! (SMASH!)" Chesnaught slammed his right arm where Greninja was, only for Greninja to flip over him.

"Ya missed." Greninja taunted. Chesnaught swung sideways making Greninja bend his back like he was playing a game of limbo. "Missed again." Chesnaught swung downwards, only for Greninja to slide under him between his legs. "Missed trois fois."

"Chesnaught Ches Chesnaught! (Stand still or I can't hit you!)"

"That's the idea!"

Greninja backflipped dodging another attack. "Swing badda badda! Swing badda badda! Swing!"

"Switch it up! **Use Seed Bomb!** " Robin ordered.

Chesnaught took a breath unleashing a barrage of explosions, creating a powerful chain of explosions in one spot. They cleared revealing a large cracked crater, devoid of Greninja. Chesnaught looked around in confusion only to feel something damp and soft patting him on the back. He looked behind him only to see thin air. A sudden pressure landed on the back of Chesnaught's shell surprising him, when Greninja's head appeared in his face, upside down.

"Peekaboo." Greninja jumped off Chesnaught's back the moment he lifted his arm, causing him to hit himself in the face and lose his balance. "He's open!"

Kai nodded. "I see it! **Greninja use Aerial Ace!** "

Robin's eyes widened. " **Chesnaught use-!** "

Greninja appeared in front of Chesnaught before Robin could finish. His front feet glowed as he punched Chesnaught in the gut making him gape, then upper cutting him in the jaw sending him skyward. As he rose Greninja suddenly appeared in a blur with his right lower foot glowing, he axe kicked Chesnaught in a golden streak finishing off the move with a Critical Hit.

"Naught…" Chesnaught groaned, as his body fell to the ground cracking it under the force of his weight.

Greninja landed on his two feet, looking down at his opponent. "And that… Is how you not to dodge."

The spectators watched on in relative awe.

"Did he just win, with only two moves?" Weiss asked.

"I always knew Greninja was cool but… wow." Ruby stared at Greninja in amazement.

"He took that big guy out faster than Cardin." Blake noticed. "Maybe it was to do with types."

"Or maybe he's not holding back." Yang thought. "Him and Kai did seem extra excited today, I know when I'm excited, I finally cut loose."

Cinder looked at the downed Chesnaught frowning. "How disappointing, it seems she only did as well as she did against me due to dumb luck."

"Looks like these trainers are nothing but talk." Emerald assessed.

"Makes sense considering all they do is bark orders." Mercury added.

Ironwood sighed walking away. "It appears this exercise is over. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't informative."

"Wait." Ozpin interrupted. "These battles aren't the same as our academies sparring matches, here they fight until the bitter end as it were. Take a closer look."

Ironwood looked back at the battle. Robin was fixated on Chesnaught, she put her hand out and snapped her fingers. "Get up."

"…" Chesnaught didn't respond.

"I said get up!" Robin snapped her fingers again.

Robin's breathing seemed to be harsher and more rapid, as if she had been running. Kai and Greninja just looked to each other not saying anything, when a rumbling caught their attention. Chesnaught was slowly getting up, huffing and puffing, he looked up at the two… grinning.

"Chesnaught Chesnaught. (You hit hard string bean.)" Chesnaught puffed, then turned to face his trainer. "Chesnaught Chesnaught. (Sorry bout that, forgot to breath.)"

Robin slightly loosened up. "Took you long enough you big lug. Now get back in there!"

"Naught. (Right.)" Chesnaught turned back around, as Greninja's tongue flapped in the wind.

"You know you could thank us for waiting." Greninja remarked.

"Technically she was in the middle of making her move." Kai pointed out. "Right now, I'm interested in seeing what it is."

Robin looked quizzically at Kai. _'It's like he's a different person when he's battling. He's not awkward, he's not a push over, he's a beacon of confidence and strength… So that's what it takes to be the best.'_

Robin sighed through her nose. " **Chesnaught use Stone Edge!** "

Chesnaught cried, punching the ground forcing jagged rocks to burst upwards towards Greninja.

Kai swiped his arm. " **Greninja use Water Shuriken!** "

Greninja quickly threw two shuriken that cut through the rocks breaking them into pieces.

" **Use Hammer Arm!** "

" **Aerial Ace!** "

Chesnaught's arms and Greninja's legs glowed as they charged at each other. Greninja leaped forward with his leg out, making Chesnaught swing his arm forward parrying the attack, making winds fly. Greninja was sent back spiralling, using the momentum he swung his legs around to attack again making Chesnaught parry it again forcing Greninja into the air.

" **Now use Seed Bomb!** "

Chesnaught took a breath shooting seeds at the mid-air Greninja.

" **Aim for the ground and use Scald!** "

Greninja put his front feet together making several hand signs before aiming his right leg at the ground firing a stream of boiling water, pushing him higher avoiding the seeds. Greninja quickly repositioned his front foot at Chesnaught, moving the stream over the ground and hitting him with it, creating an explosion of steam.

Robin gritted her teeth as Kai smiled, with Greninja landing back on the ground. The steam disappeared showing Chesnaught shaking to dry himself off before his body was engulfed in flames.

"A burn! You have got to be kidding me!" Robin yelled in an annoyed tone. The flames dispersed, leaving tiny flickers over Chesnaught's body. "This is bad." Robin murmured. "I still haven't even hit him once, how can I hit something that agile?" Robin thought about something, anything she could do, her eyes widening with a realisation. " **Chesnaught charge forward with Spiky Shield!** "

Chesnaught slammed his arms together forming his shield, running at Greninja with it raised in front of him.

" **Greninja go over him and use Aerial Ace!** " Kai ordered.

"Let's wrap this up!" Greninja ran at Chesnaught leaping into the air, kicking with his right leg. "That shield may protect you from the front, but it leaves you pretty bli-!"

"NOW!" Robin snapped her fingers. Chesnaught undid his shield catching Greninja's foot in mid-air, leaving him dangling. "About time he realised where his blind spot was without me having to remind him. **Now use Hammer Arm!** "

Chesnaught grinned evilly as Greninja blinked twice. "…Mercy?"

"CHESNAUGHT! (I'M GONNA RAGE!)" Chesnaught roared.

He slammed Greninja onto the ground in front of him before picking him up and slamming him behind him, then in front, then the sides, then the front again, making Greninja flail. Before finally making his arm glow with fighting spirit, serving Greninja into the air before spiking him through the air. He fell onto the ground bouncing and rolling, tumbling forward surrounded by dust, falling flat in front of Kai.

"… Why me?"

Kai looked down. "Well you kind of deserved it, good thing he just got that burn, otherwise you'd be feeling a lot worse. Now can you move?"

Greninja got on two feet stretching. "Yeah. But I'm gonna be feeling that tomorrow, and the next day, and the week after that."

Chesnaught suffered from his burn damage, before his body glowed with an overflowing green aura.

Cinder cautiously looked at the aura with concern, while Team RWBY looked at it in surprise.

"What's that green aura around him?" Weiss asked.

"And why does it look familiar?" Yang asked.

Blake narrowed her eyes looking between Chesnaught and Greninja, when it finally hit her. "It's just like Greninja, when he fought Cardin!"

"Oh yeah!" Ruby exclaimed. "Wait… If Greninja's blue aura gave him a strength boost when he was low on energy…"

"Then her Pokémon must be low on energy as well, this battle won't last much longer."

Kai and Greninja looked at Chesnaught's aura with confident gazes in their eyes.

"So Overgrow's activated." Kai adjusted his hat. "Don't get cocky now Greninja! Get in close!"

"After what he did to me, it's personal now!" Greninja ran forward keeping his body low to the ground.

Robin pointed at the downwards. " **Use Seed Bomb on the ground!** "

Chesnaught roared, shooting larger seeds at the ground creating large explosions that lightly shook the ground. Greninja struggled to keep going straight, the explosions forcing him to go back on himself from side to side.

"I can't get through!" He shouted.

Kai's gaze grew more serious, as he looked around trying to find a path, before focusing on the explosions. "Wait… why would she have Chesnaught keep aiming at the ground? Unless…" Kai gasped. "It's a smokescreen! Greninja it's a trap!"

Greninja looked back at Kai wrapping one of his front foot around one of his ears. "What?!"

Bursting out of the smoke Chesnaught leaped forward, with both his arm prepared to use Hammer Arm.

"Greninja look out!" Kai warned making Greninja look behind to see Chesnaught with his arm raised high above him.

The explosions cleared out showing Robin. "I knew that with Overgrow in effect you would become so concerned with Chesnaught's Seed Bomb and Spiky Shield, that you would completely forget about Hammer Arm." Robin put her thumb and finger together. "Now finish it!"

Robin snapped her fingers making Chesnaught roar, bringing down his arm. His gaze quickly went from excitement to shock, noticing his arm was being pushed back by a needle made of dark energy.

"He blocked it with Night Slash?! But his trainer didn't command him to do that?!"

"I didn't have to." Kai interrupted getting Robin's attention. "I knew that if I could warn Greninja in time, he would pull through."

"Yeah…!" Greninja added, his voice partially strained from his clash with Chesnaught. "Did you really think… I'd be dumb enough… To just let myself get hit by an oncoming attack!" Greninja stretched his legs, giving him more leverage, forcing Chesnaught away.

"That's it Greninja! Keep on pushing!"

Robin's expression remained unchanged. "It doesn't matter that your Greninja could block Chesnaught's arm that time! Because he has something your Pokémon doesn't!" Robin snapped her fingers again, making Chesnaught raise his remaining arm making it glow. "He still has his other arm!"

As Chesnaught was about to deal the blow, Kai smiled getting an idea. "You know Greninja has something Chesnaught doesn't have either." Kai pointed at Chesnaught's head. "Greninja use your tongue!"

Robin's face filled with shock. "His what?!"

Greninja smirked whipping his head back to undo his tongue scarf. He flicked it upwards wrapping it around Chesnaught's face blinding him. The action caused him to panic making him stop his attack to try and remove the muscular organ around him.

"Knock him off balance!"

Greninja raised his leg, kicking Chesnaught, making him wobble as he pulled back his tongue.

Kai punched the air above him. "End this now Greninja! **Use Night Slash!** "

Greninja slurped his tongue while flicking his head, wrapping his tounge back around his mouth as a scarf. Chesnaught managed to see him briefly making him open him gape before Greninja crouched and leaped in an instant. He shouted passing Chesnaught, making the world around him flash briefly in darkness to the sound of a crackling slash. It returned to normal with Greninja in a crouched position with his needle out to his side. Both he and Chesnaught were motionless, as the Remnant spectators were left speechless. Slowly Greninja began sheathing his blade in his front feet pausing before the last of it went then, then quickly sheathing it one motion. That exact moment Chesnaught's burn ignited him making him scream. The flames dispersed making him lurch forward landing hard on the ground with a thud, knocked out.

Greninja slowly got up looking back at Kai. "Did that look as cool as I thought it did?"

Kai smiled giving him a thumbs up. "The coolest."

Robin was speechless, taking in her 3 – 0 loss to Kai. This gave the others time to process Kai's victory.

Cinder turned away and began walking off. "I've seen enough. We're leaving."

"You know we were probably gonna do that anyway, you didn't have to declare it like we're those mindless animals." Mercury taunted.

"Can you just stop?" Emerald groaned, following Cinder, with Mercury slowly walking behind her.

Ruby stood with her fists balled under her chin and her eyes sparkling. "That was so amazing! The way Kai gave his orders like- wow! And how Talonflame- whooshed! Aegislash -shinged! Ooh! Ooh and Greninja shooting water like -pwoosh! And-! And-!" Ruby ran out only for Yang to grab her hood and pull her back.

"Hold on there Ruby! Professor Ozpin looks like he wants to speak with him." Yang pointed at him and Ironwood walking towards the trainers. "We should just head back to our room and congratulate Kai later." Yang reasoned as she began dragging Ruby away.

"But I-! They were just so-! Couldn't I just-!"

"Later."

Ruby grumbled as she was literally dragged away by Yang, with Weiss and Blake following closely.

"So, what did you think of the battle?" Blake asked her teammate.

"It was: barbaric, and crazy, and destructive… but I have to admit it was…" Weiss rolled her hands thinking of a word. "…entertaining."

Blake smirked. "High praise coming from you."

"As if you're one to talk about taste."

Robin slowly returned Chesnaught, putting his Pokéball away remaining quiet. She was snapped back to reality when Kai's arm was in front of her face.

"That was a good battle, you really kept me on my toes." Kai complimented with Greninja at his side.

Robin stared at his arm, before turning away. "Ozpin."

Ozpin and Ironwood walked towards them making Kai put his hand away.

Ironwood cleared his throat. "Thank you for your demonstration, it has certainly… given me a new perspective."

"I can't help but feel slightly concerned by your word choice." Greninja bluntly stated.

"Ignore him." Kai stepped forward. "So, was this demonstration good enough for you?"

"For the time being. Now if you must excuse me, I have duties to fulfil." Ironwood walked away, making Robin sigh through her nose.

"Well he's certainly…" Robin stopped herself.

"Bitter. Stubborn. Self-righteous. Grumpy. A pain in the butt." Greninja listed. "I can continue."

Ozpin looked at Greninja. "Please excuse Ironwood's tendencies. As the headmaster of an academy and the general of a kingdom's military, he's developed a rather cautious approach to conversation. Especially for individuals from your _unique_ background."

"Are we done here? Because I have had an exhausting day and I would appreciate being allowed to return to my room." Robin asked aggressively.

"We are done, you are free to do what you wish." Robin nodded, walking past Ozpin towards the academy. Kai watched her walk away with a concerned look on his face. "Is something the matter Kai?"

"Hm?" Kai turned his head to Ozpin. "It's nothing, it's just… I think Robin is taking the loss harder than she's showing." Kai looked down. "I wish there was something that I could say or do to help."

"Well in my experience, actions taken from the heart seem to help in matters such as this."

Kai scoffed. "That's not exactly my strong point."

"He's right, it really isn't." Greninja reinforced.

"Perhaps, but at least it shows that you care. I'm sure you more than anyone else knows how important it can be to have someone care about you in our world." Ozpin pointed out.

Kai began walking into towards the building with Greninja following beside him. "I know."

Ozpin stared at the Main Avenue. The craters, debris, and damage making it look like a bomb had gone off, which wasn't far off from what actually did happen. Ozpin sighed. "Glynda isn't going to like this."

* * *

Robin was in her and Kai's room with Chesnaught. She was sitting on her bed applying a Full Restore to his wounds, the aerosol stung and tickled as it permeated the scratch marks, making Chesnaught fidget.

"Hold still. You won't feel better if you keep moving." Robin complained.

A sudden knock on the door made her and Chesnaught look towards it, before it slightly opened with Kai and Greninja's head's peeping through.

"Are you wearing clothes?" Greninja asked.

Robin looked at the ninja frog unamused. "You don't have to knock."

Kai opened the door all the way allowing him and Greninja to walk in. "I'm just trying to be polite." He sat down on his bed, turning in place to face Robin. "…Do you play cards?"

Robin looked at Kai with a weird look. "Cards?"

Greninja brought out his deck. "You know: poker, go fish, solitaire, snap, 32 card pickup…"

Robin's face relaxed. "No. If this is your way of trying to beat me at something else-"

"I'm asking because as someone who plays cards, you learn how to spot a poker face." Kai interrupted. "Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Robin looked away hiding her frustration. "Quit asking me that! I'm fine! I'm out of danger! I'm healthy! We had a battle! You won! I lost! I'm fine!"

Kai stayed quiet repeatedly opening his mouth to say something before stopping himself. After the third or fourth time, he paused grabbing his hat and taking it off his head, placing it on his lap. "I'm only asking if you're fine because… I'm not." Robin looked back at Kai as he pulled some of his hair off the back of his head. "When I first came to this world I was freaking out. Before I had even fully understood what was happening, I already had… well this."

Kai turned letting Robin, Chesnaught and Greninja looked at the back of head, letting them notice a white bald patch.

"Woah, woah, wait! How long have you had that?" Greninja shouted in surprise.

"I discovered it a few weeks ago, it's the exact spot where I had my head injury."

"Head injury?" Robin repeated.

Kai turned back around and nodded. "When I came to this world, I landed head first, giving me a nasty cut. It started bleeding, making me pass out a few minutes after I woke up." Kai put his hat back on his head. "If it wasn't for a Grimm showing up, and making me bring out Greninja… I'm not quite sure I would be here right now."

Robin looked down at her bandaged arms, thinking about her similar experience by the river. Chesnaught looked at them too, his face dropping as he feelt guilty at his inability to protect his trainer.

"This world isn't an easy place to live in." Kai continued. "Every day I'm tested: physically, emotionally and spiritually. I have to keep working, keep improving: my knowledge, my ingenuity, even my social skills, and I don't always succeed. Recently I even started to lose hope after running out of leads, until you came. You gave us hope."

Robin looked at Kai. She could see the sincerity in his eyes, his body language, even the tone of his voice.

"Kai meant what he said before, it was a good battle." Greninja added. "It's even been more fun than some of our recent battles before we came here and not just because we won. So why have you been so down in the dumps about it?"

Robin looked at Chesnaught, then looked down at the Full Restore in her hand. "Do you really want to know?" She asked.

"Only if you think it will make you feel better. I don't want to force you to do anything." Kai answered.

Robin paused, going into thought. "…You've beaten the champion, haven't you?"

Kai gave a surprised look at the question. "Yeah. How did you-?"

"Your trainer badge. It was blue." Robin looked at Kai. "How many attempts did it take you?"

"I- um… I fail to see how me beating the champion-"

"How many?!"

Kai was left silent at the tone and volume of her voice. He looked down. "…I did it on my first try."

Robin looked away, gritting her teeth. "Of course, you did…"

"Look it wasn't an easy win, I spent two months straight training for-"

"Five times." Robin interrupted, making Kai go silent. "Five times. Over six years. One attempt, once a league season. And every time when I got to the champion… I failed. I failed at the last obstacle." Robin tightly gripped the aerosol in her hand. "Honestly, I really thought that this year was my year. Just a few more weeks of training and then **finally** my journey would be over. But instead I end up here where: I almost get killed by monsters, almost got killed by a mercenary, failed right before I could get home, and now when I fight someone close to the Champion's level I get swept." Robin's voice began to croak, as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "Do you have any idea what it's like? To work so hard, and to work towards your goal, only to fail- EVERY! SINGLE! TIME! It's not fair!... it's not fair…"

Kai remained quiet. Inside he was heartbroken, he wanted to do something, anything, but he had no idea what it was like to fail for that long. He had known failure, even recent failure, but to fail at the same thing for six years.

Kai bowed his head. "…Do you want me to do anything for you?"

Robin wiped her eyes with her bandages sniffing. "Huh?"

"I'm… I'm not good with words. And I can't comfort you. But I want to help however I can. If you need space or a friend or anything, I'll do what I can."

Robin sniffed again going quiet. "… The way your Pokémon were able to act without a command. To do what you wanted without speaking." Robin turned to Kai. "How did you train them to do that?"

Kai looked at Greninja, and the two shared a look.

"Trust." They said together.

"I talk to my Pokémon, and train them as if they were family." Kai began.

"And in return we treat Kai the same way, which lets us grow independently and gives us a feel of what the other is thinking." Greninja finished.

Kai looked at Robin who still seemed unsure.

"If you're still confused, my dad had a saying he told me when I said I wanted to be a trainer. He said… " _Every trainer aims to be great. But you should always aim to be good. Because if you're not good, then you're bad."_ Does that make sense?"

Robin remained silent.

"I think you just called her a bad trainer." Greninja whispered.

"What?! No, no, no! You're not a bad trainer, not at all!" Kai corrected. "You're just… too bossy? No! I mean you're um, you need to listen to your Pokémon more. No that came out wrong! I mean-!"

"Just shut up." Robin interrupted. "I understand what you mean. I need to get to know my Pokémon better, so that we can get better." Robin looked at Chesnaught who grinned back at her. "Which is why I have a request."

"A request?"

Robin nodded. "If I want to get to know my Pokémon, to have them know what I'm thinking, then communication between us is key. Which is why I want you to help teach my Pokémon to talk."

Chesnaught showed a surprised look on his face.

Kai took a breath. "It won't happen overnight and I can't guarantee anything, but I can try. If you want me to."

"I do. Teaching them to speak, and becoming a better trainer. _That's_ what you can do for me." Robin smiled. "Do we have a deal?"

Kai smiled back. "Yeah we have a deal." Kai stood up. "So, since I'm going to help you out, and since we're living together, I think it's time we formally introduce ourselves." Kai tipped his hat. "I'm Kai. Kai Emblem, and this is my partner Greninja."

Greninja raised his foot. "Yo!"

Robin slowly got up herself. "In that case, my name is Robin. Robin Navy, and this is my partner Chesnaught."

Chesnaught grinned. "Chesnaught Ches. (Nice to meet ya.)"

"Also, Kai… You're better with your words than you think."

The comment made Kai walk back slightly in surprise. "You're giving me too much credit…"

"Just take the compliment Kai." Greninja argued. "It's not like you're gonna get it again, anytime soon."

Kai rolled his eyes when suddenly a quiet thump was heard outside the room, followed by several quiet voices. "Did you hear that?" Kai asked.

"Are you expecting someone?" Robin asked.

Greninja stretched in place, leaning back against the wall. "No, but I have a pretty good guess who it is."

"Ches? (Food?)"

Kai cautiously walked towards the door, with Robin close behind, as he gripped the handle. He pulled the door open, with Ruby immediately falling into the room on her face with a drinking glass in her hand. With the rest of Team RWBY awkwardly standing behind her.

"Called it!" Greninja declared.

Robin scowled. "Who are you?" She snapped her fingers making Chesnaught walk closer to the door, before Kai got in-between everyone.

"Wait a minute Robin, these guys are my friends." Kai looked down to see Ruby awkwardly sprawled on the floor. "My very nosy friends." Kai looked at the Ruby's team members disapprovingly.

"In our defence, you were acting strange earlier, and when we saw a random girl come out of your room, we thought it would be in your best interest to investigate." Weiss explained.

Ruby got up on her feet, standing in front of Robin. "Can I see your shrimp?!"

Robin gave Ruby a perplexed look. "What are you talking about?"

Yang pushed Ruby aside. "Don't mind my little sis, she's a little awkward."

"She wouldn't be the first." Robin commented glancing at Kai, then back at Yang. "Now why are you here?"

"We kind of, sort of… watched your whole Pokémon battle with Kai and wanted to meet you face to face."

"I'm sorry, you watched us?" Kai repeated in confusion. "How did you know where we'd be?"

"About that…"

"We followed her." Blake deadpanned.

Robin shook her head. "So that's why I felt like I was being watched. And here I thought I was just being paranoid."

"So, you watched us…" Kai repeated again. "Did you like what you saw?"

"Like it! We LOVED it!" Ruby answered. "It was one of the greatest things my eyes have ever witnessed!"

"I wouldn't go that far, but it was kind of amazing." Blake explained.

"Glad I didn't disappoint." Kai stated, as Robin looked away.

"And you were so cool as well, er, um, what's your name?" Ruby asked Robin.

Robin turned to Ruby in surprise. "Oh? It's Robin. But that wasn't one of my best battles."

"What are you talking about?! The way you ordered your team to do exactly what you said, the strategies you used, the Pokémon you have, you were just so awesome!"

Robin was surprised by Ruby's comments, the fact that she went 0 – 3 but still being called awesome, was ironically quite alien to her.

"Even though Kai kinda dominated you." Yang remarked getting slightly elbowed by Blake. "Hey."

"You did amazing, it wouldn't have been as fascinating to watch if you weren't Kai's opponent. Even when your back was against the wall you didn't waver for a moment." Blake explained.

Robin smiled briefly before maintaining a serious composure. "Well don't think that was all I can do, while I'm here I plan to hone my skills even further, it's not like I have anything else to do in this world."

"About that…?" Kai turned to Robin. "How exactly did you get here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Robin looked at Team RWBY. "And based on how my first impression of you was from you spying on me, I assume you'd like to know as well."

"First of all, we were not spying, we were observing." Ruby corrected. "And second, yes please!"

Robin sighed through her nose, walking into her room. "All right I'll tell you all, but I expect you to catch me up on everything you've been through since you got here Kai."

"Yeah, that's gonna take a while." Kai pointed out.

"That's fine. Time's all we have in this world."

The six teenagers walked into the room, with Greninja and Chesnaught standing up against the side of the room.

"You may be new here, and I'm not gonna lie by saying it's all great. But there are a few upsides to this place." Greninja told Chesnaught.

Chesnaught saw Robin sit down on her bed beginning to tell her story. "Chesnaught Chesnaught. Chesnaught. (You might be right string bean. You might be right.)"

* * *

 **And so concludes the 'Arrival arc' for those of you who have been waiting since my hiatus I can only hope the wait was worth it. As for what's next I have some ideas that are still in the works. My plan at the moment is to write two small arcs, followed by one more prominent one like this and then completing the rest of Volume 2, of course that's assuming everything goes to plan.**

 **So until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	38. Chapter 35: Save the date

**-Morning, Beacon Academy-**

Light shone through the curtains of a dorm, casting the room in a red shadow. Four beds containing four sleeping Huntsman and Huntresses in training, were resting in peace and quiet.

 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP-!_

The four teenagers making up Team JNPR woke up with a start, looking around the room frantically.

"Where is it? Where is it?" Jaune looked around the room, before picking up his scroll and turning off the alarm. "Phew. Got it."

"Do we have to keep using that?" Nora moaned, lying back on her pillow.

"If we don't want to be late, it's a sacrifice we have to take." Ren answered getting up out of bed.

"But is being late such a bad thing?"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Pyrrha walked up to the curtains opening them and letting the light in, making Jaune and Nora cover their eyes. "Rise and shine everyone! We've got a big day ahead of us. Apparently we're getting a special sparring session today."

"Where'd you hear that?" Jaune asked.

"It was in the school email we received last week."

"Oh, that explains it. I kind of, sort of… forgot my password to my account."

Pyrrha shook her head, before beginning to get changed along with Nora.

"Hey! Eyes to the wall!" Nora instructed.

"I lived in a house with seven sisters, I am well aware of the procedure." Jaune turned his head to the wall along with Ren. "So, what's so special about this session?"

"According to the message some of the second years will be showing up to spar with us." Pyrrha answered.

"Isn't that kind of unfair."

"That's the point. It's to show us just how far we have to grow."

"By getting beat up."

"Pain is an excellent teacher." Ren added.

"All right you can turn around!" Nora interrupted.

Ren and Jaune turned around seeing Nora and Pyrrha in their Beacon uniforms, looking at the wall, allowing them to start changing.

"So, this school email… anything else that I missed?" Jaune asked.

"Not really, the only things that I can really think of are the upcoming talent show and the school dance." Pyrrha answered.

"A dance? Like with fancy suits, and dresses and… _dates_?" Jaune slightly emphasised that last part.

"Exactly Jaune, I'm a little excited honestly.

"Especially since you're the most popular girl in school. I'm surprised guys haven't lined up to ask you out already." Nora explained. "Of course, I know who I'm asking."

"Okay you can turn." Ren said, making the girls turn around seeing them in their uniform. Nora stood staring at Ren making him look at her with concern. "Nora are you feeling alright?"

"Oh, I'm fi~ine."

"Well I know who I'm asking too." Jaune declared.

"If it's a certain Ice Queen, I hate to tell you but she'll probably say no… again. Honestly it's getting kinda creepy how many times you keep asking."

Team JNPR walked out their dorm with Jaune leading. "Well you know what they say…" Jaune counted the fingers on his hands. "Sixth times the charm!" Jaune suddenly drooped. "Oh, who am I kidding, Nora's right."

"Perhaps it's better if you move on from Weiss." Ren suggested. "It would be better for both of your relationships."

"Perhaps you and Weiss just weren't meant to be." Pyrrha comforted. "You're a nice guy Jaune. I'm sure that somewhere out there, there's someone waiting just for you."

Jaune perked up. "You're right! I didn't come to Beacon with my eyes set on one girl! No! Jaune Arc is attached to no woman! I'm going to find a date right now!" Jaune dramatically posed with a colourful background behind him.

"We have a lecture right after breakfast." Ren reminded Jaune making his background shatter behind him.

"Oh… Then I'll find a date right after."

Jaune proudly walked on ahead, while Pyrrha gave a sincere smile.

Nora suddenly nudged her. "Or maybe there's someone right behind him."

"What? Oh, I'm not-"

"Hey what's the holdup?" Jaune asked up ahead.

"Nothing we'll be right there!"

Nora looked at Pyrrha, as the two picked up the pace.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the lunch hall Kai was attempting to straighten his tie on his school uniform as he walked past a poster. His attention was caught by it showing two different images: a dance floor and a stage lit up by spotlights.

"School dance and a talent show." Kai murmured before shaking his head. "Yeah I'll pass."

Kai carried on ahead, noticing Team RWBY coming up to him.

"Hello Kai! Good morning." Ruby greeted.

"Hey, where's Robin? Is she not coming to breakfast?" Yang asked.

"She was still asleep when I woke up, even through my alarm. And since she still had today off, I decided to leave her be. After what she's been through, she deserves a rest." Kai explained.

His thoughts went back to yesterday when Robin explained to the group how she ended up in Vale's wild, fending for herself for three weeks. It made Kai's first few weeks seem like a vacation in comparison.

"By the way, how does my tie look?" Kai asked, much to the confusion of Team RWBY.

"It's fine?" Ruby questioned.

"If we're being honest with each other, it does seem to go too far to the left." Weiss pointed out.

"I knew it!" Kai began pushing his tie to the centre. "I was always a little sub-conscious that I could never get it straight, but since Robin wears a tie just for leisure it's been stuck in my head." Kai finished straightening his tie, only for it to push itself back to the left. "Ho~ow?"

A series of footsteps behind Kai got progressively louder, as four individuals stood behind him.

"We're not interrupting you, are we?" A familiar voice asked.

Kai looked behind him and Team RWBY seeing four students slightly older than they were.

A teenage girl with fair skin, short dark-brown hair and dark-brown eyes. Her hair was in wavy locks on one side of her face, dyed with a gradient that starts as a dark brown and transitions to caramel. She wore a long, cocoa-coloured shirt with a dark brown waist cincher and long, dark brown trousers with ribbons on the left side and a brown belt with cartridges. She also had a number of accessories, such as a bracelet with black roses as decoration, black gloves and necklaces. She wears a beret of a darker brown and a pair of black, wire-rimmed aviator sunglasses. She is seen holding a black shoulder bag with gold studs, which is held by a bandolier strap.

A tall and athletic-looking young man with shaved-short black hair and tanned skin, wearing mostly pale-green and brown attire. He had a long short-sleeved robe, which he wore on one shoulder over a black muscle shirt. The robe is fastened at the waist by a leather armoured belt with two pouches on it. He also wears brown pants and black-and-green boots. His left arm bears a 5-layer sode which extends up past his shoulder. His weapon is affixed to his back with a padded brown strap slung over his shoulder. He also wears a pair of bracers as well as a pair of black gloves with green plates on the backs.

A teenage boy with dark skin and dark, messy copper hair that has a long fringe and a cowlick. He wore a sleeveless, muted orange zipper vest with black lining and a high collar, a pair of black jeans, and brown, laced shoes. His eyes appear to be pure white, giving off the appearance that he is blind. His arms are covered in scars, and he has a vertical scar on his lips. He also wears a pair of long black gloves and has several pouches attached to his belt.

The last one was a familiar rabbit eared faunus wearing a short, long-sleeved brown jacket with a golden zipper, brown shorts with golden detail and black leggings. She wore a black, semi-translucent undershirt beneath her jacket, along with golden spaulders and vambraces on both arms, as well as a similar belt, and her heel and toes are likewise protected.

"Velvet?" Kai looked at her as she stepped forward.

"Hey you're in our history class." Ruby pointed out, with her team walking up to her.

"Have you been doing alright? Has Cardin approached you since the start of the year?" Blake inquired.

Velvet shook her head. "No. He and I have kept our distance."

"Good thing too. I may not have been there when he did it, but if he did it again, it wouldn't be pretty." The girl with sunglasses commented.

"Same." Kai agreed. "And you are?"

"This is Coco, she's my team's leader." Velvet introduced before gesturing to the dark-skinned boy and the athletic young man. "And these two are my teammates; Fox and Yatsuhashi."

"It's our pleasure." Yatsuhashi greeted.

"…" Fox nodded.

"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Ruby." Ruby introduced.

"Weiss."

"Blake."

"Yang."

Kai tipped his fedora. "Kai."

"So, you're the guy Velvet's talked about." Coco walked up to Kai. "Thanks for standing up for her the way you did. Velvet's too nice to fight back in situations like that, makes me sick knowing something like this happened and I wasn't there to back her up."

"It's nothing really, just doing what I would want someone to do if I was in her position." Kai crossed his arms. "So why did you come over just now Velvet? You don't normally come up to me like this."

"It's for a couple of things actually." Velvet began to answer. "As part of our second year of training, our team is going out soon on a training mission for a few weeks."

"But first, we volunteered to join in on your sparring session today, to give you newbies some first-hand experience of what second year Huntsman and Huntresses in training can do." Coco added.

"Given that there is a significant difference in our skills, we thought it would be fair to let people know who they will be going up against ahead of time." Yatsuhashi concluded.

"Sounds like fun. I can't wait until this afternoon now!" Yang cried, pumped up.

"Don't get too excited, we won't be holding back." Coco pointed out.

"Well neither will we, right guys!" Ruby cheered turning to her team.

"Yeah!" Yang cried.

"We'd have to if we were to stand a chance at winning." Weiss reasoned.

"Maybe I'll sit this one out." Blake moped. The rest of her team turned around to look at Blake with sceptical looks. "Not everyone's going to have the chance to spar against them, I just think I should just watch and let someone else more interested have a turn."

"I guess I understand." Ruby said to herself before looking at Kai. "What about you Kai?"

Kai put his head on his fist. "I don't know… Maybe with my Pokémon I'd consider it, but right now I want to focus on getting stronger on my own."

"Pokémon huh? Pretty sure those are those things Velvet told us about." Coco approached Kai. "Listen, no one's forcing you to do anything, but I for one would really love to see those things in person."

"I'll… consider it."

Coco started walking away. "Well we better get moving. We still have a lot of preparations for our mission."

"It's been nice seeing you again." Velvet waved goodbye as she walked away with her team.

Team RWBY waved goodbye while Kai stared off into thought.

 _'_ _Should I volunteer? It would be good experience.'_

"Hey Kai are you coming?" Yang asked.

Kai snapped back into reality seeing Team RWBY were already a fair distance behind him, walking into the lunch hall.

"Huh? When did-? Sure, I'll be there now." Kai answered, awkwardly catching up to the team.

* * *

Several hours passed throughout the day leading up to early afternoon. Walking around Beacon's corridors was Jaune Arc, paying little to no attention to anyone else as he was walking.

"Let's see… date, date, where can I find a date?" Jaune murmured to himself. "Okay let's start with who I already know: Ruby? More of a sister really. Yang? Out of my league, and a little terrifying. Blake? Not really my type. Nora or Pyrrha? Nah, we're teammates. That'd just be awkward." Jaune looked up just in time to avoid bumping into the wall at the end of the hallway before turning right, and carrying on. "Oh, who am I kidding? None of my friends are really dating material, except Weiss of course the snow angel that she is." Jaune shook his head, looking down on the floor. "No Jaune! I said I wouldn't talk about her. If I can't ask one of my friends then I'll just have to find someone new, but where to find-OW!"

Jaune bumped heads with another student on the corridor, causing the two to step back.

"Hey, watch it!" A female voice grunted.

"Sorry! It's my bad I should have watched where I was go…go…go~" Jaune looked up at the student in front of him, with his hand rubbing his head.

His gaze was fixated on the raven-haired girl standing in front of him. Her blue eyes deep like sapphires staring into his soul, as a heavenly choir echoed in the distance. The girl practically glowing as pink sparkles flashed around her, highlighting her smooth skin and her enchanting smile.

In reality Jaune just stood there gawking in the middle of the hall, much to Robin's annoyance, a frown plastered on her face.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for this."

Robin began walking off, leaving Jaune alone in his trance. With her out of his line of sight Jaune slowly faded back into reality, his face lighting up with surprise and determination.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Jaune ran back in front of Robin, cutting her off. "I haven't seen you around, you new here?" Jaune asked in the smoothest voice he could make.

"Yes. Now please leave me alone." Robin walked past Jaune again, only for him to cut her off, making her narrow her eyes in annoyance.

"You know, I could show you around. Help you find your way around."

"I'm good thanks." Robin replied in an irritated tone walking past Jaune, turning the corner as he walked at her side.

"Independent I see, I like that. In that case why don't we skip the formalities and get straight to introductions." Jaune dramatically gestured to himself. "I'm Jaune Arc, and you are?"

"None of your business." Robin picked up the pace getting further ahead of Jaune, and getting in-between the incoming students.

"Wait!" He called out, his voice no longer smooth, instead rather desperate. "At least let me welcome you here, reward you for all your hard work, one friend to another!" Robin just kept her back turned pretending Jaune didn't exist. "What do you like?! Drinks?! Food?! Movies?! I'll even take you out to the city! My treat!"

Robin stopped in place. More students passed her before she turned around and walked closer to Jaune. "The main city?"

Jaune's face lit up with confidence. "Why yes my dear." He began in his smooth voice. "I'll show you around the hotspots, or if you'd prefer, we could go somewhere more… private."

Robin paused in thought looking at the boy in front of her. "The main areas should do just fine. I'll see you at the end of the Main Avenue in an hour." Robin slowly began to leave, making Jaunes face twist in discomfort.

"An hour?! Can't it be later or another day, like tomorrow?" Jaune pleaded, making Robin look back.

"If it's too short notice then don't worry about it, I'll go there myself some other time." Robin's footsteps slowly trailed into the distance, causing Jaune to look around anxiously.

"It's fine!" He eventually called out, getting Robin's attention. "I'll… I'll see you down there… what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't." Robin walked off into the crowd getting lost in them, sighing through her nose.

 _'_ _Am I really this desperate to visit the main city that I'd let him take me, I could navigate it myself.'_ Robin thought. _'Then again, I don't know how long it would take to comfortably make my way around, and the fact that I have no money, unlike that guy who offered to buy whatever I wanted.'_

Robin exhaled heavily. "You've handled worse. It'll be just for a couple of hours, and if he's too much then just remember where the airship drops us off and leave early. Easy."

As Robin walked away, Jaune was walking off rather proud of himself. "See Jaune, it's that easy! Although…" He paused looking down. "I will have to miss combat practice… I'm sure missing one lesson won't be too bad, right? Probably."

* * *

An hour passed, and Jaune was anxiously waiting at the end of the Main Avenue where multiple air ships were parked, waiting to take students to and from the city.

"Hey when's this girl supposed to arrive?" The pilot of one of the Bullheads asked.

"Any minute now. I hope." Jaune answered despairingly.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've heard that one."

Jaune looked down seeing the time on his scroll as 1:57pm, going on 1:58pm.

"This is dumb, I should leave now and hope that maybe I can still get to combat practice in time-"

"I'm here." Robin's voice along with her footsteps alerted Jaune to her approach.

"Great! Ahem-" Jaune cleared his throat. "Your chariot awaits milady."

Robin got in Jaune's face with an intimidating glare. "Let's get a few things straight here. Lose that suave charade it's annoying, and if you so much as **think** of touching me or getting intimate in anyway, you'll wish you were dead. Got it?"

Jaune gulped. "Yes ma'am."

"You sure? If you back out now, I won't blame you, you seemed a little concerned about the timing."

Jaune nodded. "I'm sure."

"Good. Now then, let's get going." Robin made her way into the airship followed soon after by Jaune.

Jaune went to sit down next to Robin, but after seeing her glare, cautiously chose to leave a seat between them.

"All right you two, buckle up. We're getting ready to leave." The pilot informed, making the two teenagers strap themselves in. The air ship quickly took off flying through the air at high speeds, leaving Beacon in the distance.

Jaune looked away from Robin, clutching his stomach. _'It never gets any easier.'_ Jaune thought suffering from his air sickness. _'I hope she doesn't notice.'_

Unbeknownst to Jaune, Robin was also turned away in a far worse state. She had puffy cheeks and blank circular eyes, with one hand on her stomach, and the other bawled into a fist in front of her mouth. _'How is this even worse on a full stomach?!'_ Robin thought gulping. _'This is why I don't ride Flying types!'_

* * *

Inside the Amphitheatre: Kai, Team RWBY, and the other members of Team JNPR were sitting next to each other in the stands waiting for class to start. Pyrrha had her scroll out calling Jaune, ringing multiple times only for it to go to his voicemail.

She hung up despondently. "He still isn't answering."

Pyrrha turned to Kai who was putting his scroll away. "Same here. Do you think he's alright?"

"He seemed fine earlier, it's not like him to miss lessons. And it certainly isn't like him to not tell us if he was going to."

"I'm sure our leader has a good reason why he isn't here, and why he hasn't told us anything." Ren reasoned.

"What if Cardin's going after him again?" Nora suggested. "Can I break his legs this time?!"

"As tempting as that is, we should wait until we have a better understanding of the situation before accusing anyone else." Pyrrha explained.

"Well if Jaune chooses to miss out on his lessons, then that's his problem. We shouldn't have to get involved." Weiss commented.

"That's a little cold Weiss, even for you." Yang pointed out.

"If him missing his lessons means I don't have to hear another annoying attempt at asking me out, then I'm all for it."

As this was going on, Kai glanced around the room getting his attention caught by Blake who had her head stuck in a book. "Blake? Blake?" Kai asked attempting to get her attention.

"Huh?" Blake looked up from her book. "Were you saying something?"

"Just wondering why you're reading? I know you read a lot, but you don't normally do it in lessons."

Ruby looked behind her. "Are you still reading that book Blake? You've been reading that since before I woke up."

"It's just a really good book." Blake quickly explained.

Kai stared at the cover. "…Geographical maps of the kingdom of Vale, Volume II? I didn't know you were into geography."

"There's a lot of things that you don't know about me."

Kai and Ruby remained unconvinced, as they continued to stare at their friend.

"Blake, are you… feeling alright?" Ruby asked. "Because ever since the start of the semester you've been distant. Well, more than usual and your head's been stuck in a book, well more than usual too. And after what happened with the investigation you've been-"

"I'm fine Ruby! I'm fine." Blake returned to her book. "So could you just let me read in peace you two?"

"Sure Blake, if that's what you want." Kai answered looking away.

Breaking through the awkward atmosphere was Goodwitch walking onto the higher platform. "Good afternoon students, as I'm sure you've been made aware today's seminar will feature some volunteers from the second year to spar against. They are taking time out of their schedules to help with your education today, so I expect you to treat them with the same respect and authority that I impose." Goodwitch gestured to the entrance to the amphitheatre's arena. "May I present; Team CFVY."

At the sound of their introduction: Velvet, Coco, Yatsuhashi and Fox all walked in side by side. Several intrigued murmurs were coming from the class making Velvet's rabbit ears twitch.

"They seem really excited." Velvet nervously revealed.

"Course they are, we're who they hope to be in a few months." Coco looked back at Velvet seeing her nervously look around. "You've got nothing to worry about Velvet, that weapon of yours will work fine."

"I know. But I still haven't had it successfully work for long periods of time yet, I don't want it to stop working in the middle of a match." Velvet moped looking down at the floor.

Coco shook her head. "Look I think it's fine but if you don't feel ready, you don't have to spar today, alright."

Velvet looked up. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Now come on, raise your head. We're meant to inspire these guys y'know."

Velvet looked around, hearing the classes excited murmurs and nodded to her leader. "Right!"

The four second-years stopped in the middle of the room facing the class, except Coco who went over to Goodwitch whispering something in her ear. Goodwitch sighed but nodded as she pulled out her tablet scroll making: Coco's, Yatsuhashi's and Fox's images appear on the screen behind Goodwitch.

"Now then I'm sure that most of you would like to spar but we simply don't have the time or the numbers so…" The three images went to the left-hand side, while the right-hand side opposite each of them had portraits of the class that began spinning rapidly with the left. "It's only fair that the pairs are chosen at random."

At the word 'random' the class began looking to each other murmuring in confusion.

"Randomly assigned sparring matches, that's new." Kai repeated. "It makes sense why she's doing it but doesn't that put people on the spot."

"What's wrong Kai, you nervous?" Yang teased.

"A little, I'm still on the fence on whether I actually wanted to spar with one of them."

"You'd do fine. You always doubt yourself." Pyrrha comforted.

"Besides what are the odds one of us gets picked anyway?" Nora asked.

The first images stopped spinning revealing the first sparring pairs.

"Our first match will be Fox Alistair against Lie Ren!" Goodwitch declared.

Nora looked at Ren's face on the screen, then Ren's face right in front of her. "Huh. I guess those were the odds."

"Good luck out there." Pyrrha encouraged.

"I shall do my best." Ren calmly stated.

The next row stopped linking Yatsuhashi with another student, leaving everyone's eyes fixated on the final row.

"Looks like whoever's picked next will have to go against Coco." Weiss reminded.

"This waiting's killing me." Yang moaned.

"It's going to stoooooooop…" Nora paused. "Now!" The portrait kept spinning. "Now. Now. For real now. Maybe no-" The portrait stopped spinning. "First try!"

The group shook their heads in response to Nora before looking at who Coco was up against.

"That's-" Pyrrha began to say.

"And our last match will be Coco Adel against Kai Emblem!" Goodwitch revealed.

Kai slouched in his seat as everyone's eyes turned to him. "Of course, it was gonna be me."

"Lucky." Yang commented.

"If you don't want to spar, I'm sure Goodwitch will select someone else." Pyrrha suggested.

Kai straightened his posture smiling. "No, it's fine. I'll spar, and I'll give it my best shot."

Ren stood up and began walking down. "I should probably head down now."

"Good luck Ren." Pyrrha encouraged.

"Go for the legs!" Nora cheered.

Ren walked out of sight, making Pyrrha look down in thought.

 _'_ _Jaune, you should be here to support your teammate as well. Where are you?'_

* * *

A few minutes after the sparring session had properly begun the airship landed in the city of Vale. Jaune and Robin walked away from the ship, with Robin taking a breath of fresh air.

"Much better." She whispered to herself.

"Did you say something?" Jaune asked.

"Nothing important." Robin answered turning to Jaune. "So, you know this place better than I do, is there anywhere important that I might have to go to while I'm here."

"Well there's this café I've heard of that has discounts on certain days. Ooh! Or we could go to a club, practice some dancing for the school dance. Speaking of the school dance-"

"You and I have very different definitions of important." Robin cut off. "Why don't you try again?"

"Well…" Jaune awkwardly began to think of somewhere. "Honestly I've not been here much myself, so I don't really know too many vital places."

Robin turned away walking off. "Well then you've been helpful, but I think I'll be better off exploring alone, a shame really, I could have used someone to show me around."

Jaune panicked getting in front of her. "Wait! I just remembered somewhere. Somewhere very important."

"Is it _really_?"

"Um… Sure. I mean yes! Very!"

Robin pushed her fingers across her forehead before exhaling. "Lead the way."

"Of course, mila-" Jaune started but stopped seeing Robin's annoyed expression. "I mean sure, this way."

Jaune walked forward with Robin walking close behind him, as he outwardly seemed very calm and relaxed. Internally however;

 _'_ _Okay Jaune think! You're on thin ice here, keep your eyes peeled and hopefully we'll find somewhere this girl will like… hopefully.'_ He thought, as the two started to make their way deep into the city in silence. _'This isn't good! I need to get her talking, think of something-!'_

"So, are you a boxer?" Jaune asked Robin unexpectedly.

Robin looked at Jaune in confusion. "No. Why would you think that?"

"Well this is pretty silly to say but… the bandages. I wondered about them and thought- you know just forget I said anything."

Robin looked down at her bandaged arms in disappointment. "My arms are bandaged because I hurt them obviously, that is what bandages are for."

"Yeah that makes more sense. Sorry."

Robin's gaze sharpened. "Why are you apologising?!"

Jaune turned around quickly in a panic. "Woah-! I didn't know it was sensitive, my bad."

Robin exhaled heavily placing her right hand on her bandaged left arm. "No, it was my fault, I over reacted. I'm just tired of people saying that to me recently."

Jaune paused looking at Robin. "I sort of know how you feel, nobody's expected much from me, not even my parents, so I know how degrading someone's pity feels."

Robin scoffed. "Don't be overdramatic, you're a Huntsman aren't you, clearly you did something right."

"I guess…" Jaune turned around walking with Robin. "Speaking of Huntsman, why'd you become a Huntress? If it's not too rude to ask."

Robin paused to think of a reason before answering. "The travelling, the independence, the… sometimes pleasant company. What about you? You don't exactly seem the Huntsman type."

"That's easy, being a Huntsman is sort of the family business. My father, his father, and his father before him were all heroes, and my great-great grandfather actually served in the Great War, I actually use his weapon." Jaune explained. "What do you use?"

"I…" Robin paused. "I don't see why I have to tell you."

"What?! Come on, I already told you what mine is!" Jaune complained.

"Maybe if you don't annoy me into walking away, you'll find out."

"But I-!" Jaune heaved. "Well what do you want to talk about?"

"I'd prefer not to, I don't do small talk."

"Well it's gonna be pretty boring walking around Vale if we've got nothing to say to each other."

"After what I've been through recently, boring is exactly what I need." Robin commented as the two carried on in silence.

The two proceeded to walk around a large part of the city; from it's quiet outskirts to it's busy main streets. From its commercial district full of popular shops and businesses, to the quiet residential district where people made their homes. Occasionally Jaune would try to show some of his moves to Robin, but her hardened gaze would stop him before he even got close. This continued for some time until Jaune temporarily left Robin leaving her in the middle of a crowded street. The street in question was a large marketplace with several stands set up selling everything from fresh produce to little knick knacks and pillows. While pedestrians were passing by her, Robin's eyes scanned her surroundings memorising the layout.

"Hey, sorry for the wait." Jaune's voice caught Robin's attention as she stared at him running towards her, with two sticks of skewered meat on them. "Hope you don't mind, I was getting hungry so I bought a snack, as well as one for you."

Robin eyed the street food before looking at Jaune. "Look, this is sweet but I can't eat that."

"Oh, don't be like that I got some specially for you. It's good trust me, the man at the stand told me." Jaune gestured at the market stall where he got the food, where an elderly, balding, grey-haired shopkeeper was selling meat skewers.

"The potential bias that man would have for his food aside, I still can't eat it." Robin explained.

Jaune dramatically raised his arms. "Come on! I know that this hasn't gone perfect and I know we still aren't at that super real, totally important place I mentioned but I'm trying to be nice here! What possible reason could you have for not eating this?"

"Aside from your pushiness only making it less likely I'll eat it, there's the very important fact that I'm a Vegetarian!"

Jaune stood awkwardly glancing at the two sticks of meat in his hands. "… oo~oh. I can see why you don't want to eat these. I should just put these in the trash."

"No, no, go right ahead and eat yours. Just because I don't eat meat doesn't mean I condemn those who do, I'm just not having mine thank you very much." Robin began walking off. "I'm leaving."

"Wait don't leave! What about that important place I told you about?!" Jaune argued calling out.

"I think both of us know that was just an excuse you made up."

Robin walked off leaving Jaune slouching in defeat. "Yeah… this was a waste of time. Guess I avoided going to lesson for nothing huh."

A metallic thudding in the distance distracted Jaune from his melancholy making him look towards an alley. He stared in confusion for a moment when-

 _BANG!_

The large crowds cried out in a panic looking around frantically.

"A gunshot!" Jaune said out-loud looking towards the direction of the sound. The alley. Steadying his nerve, he threw the skewers to the ground, equipping his sword and shield.

From further away Robin was looking around frantically as worried pedestrians ran past her. She looked behind her seeing Jaune rushing towards an alley with his weapons poised. She took a couple of steps but stopped herself, gritting her teeth and turning back around.

"Why do I get the feeling that this won't go well?" Robin asked herself as she headed to where Jaune was.

* * *

A gun was fired in an alley causing a bullet to hit the pavement, creating a crack.

"Come on out kid. The longer you run, the worse this might end up." A faunus with deer antlers, wearing a White Fang mask asked.

He patrolled the area looking for his target, unaware of the trembling kid hiding behind a metal trash can. He was no older than seven or eight and was also a faunus shown by his particularly sharp canines and furry arms. He had messy grey hair and green eyes, wearing a light blue short sleeved shirt, dark blue shorts, white socks and white trainers with untied laces.

He trembled in fear with his back against the waste receptacle, making it lightly shake and rattle. The White Fang member slowly picked up on the noise looking towards the slightly vibrating bin.

He smirked. "Listen kid this has nothing to do with you, only your dad. You come with me and I can make sure you're taken care of until he's come to his senses." He slowly walked towards the kids hiding spot making sure he wasn't being too loud to spook him away. "Of course, if you don't come out, then I can't guarantee anything now, can I?" He stopped in front of the can as he prepared to walk around it and do what had to be done.

"Hey!"

The White Fang member froze. A couple of feet behind him Jaune had just entered where he stood in a defensive stance.

"Are you alright? A gunshot went off around here, are you hurt?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm-" The White Fang member quickly turned around firing a shot from his gun, which Jaune deflected with his shield. "A Huntsman?!" He began firing rapidly forcing Jaune to hide behind his shield.

The trash can tipped over getting Jaune and the White Fang members attention as the two saw the boy running away.

"Oh no you don't you brat!" He aimed his gun at him ready to fire, when Jaune tackled him to the ground.

"You're not going anywhere!" Jaune said confidently.

"I wouldn't be so sure buddy."

Before Jaune could understand what was happening, a click was heard behind his head, with two other members standing behind him. One was dark skinned wearing a black hood over his head holding the gun against Jaune's head, and the other was a female with ginger hair in a ponytail having an extra pair of ears on her head similar to a donkey's.

"The kid went that way." The first White Fang member pointed ahead making the female member run in that direction with a gun in her hands. "Now as for you. You really should have kept your nose out of this."

"Yeah well… you shouldn't have stuck your nose in this!" Jaune awkwardly argued back.

"Poor last choice of words." The hooded member massaged the trigger on the gun.

Jaune closed his eyes taking a breath, before opening them and turning around to face him before getting shot in the forehead. He landed on his back rubbing his forehead, when the hooded member stamped his foot on Jaune's chest plate.

"We know you Huntsman can block our bullets with that aura of yours, but we also know it has a limit." The first member got up on his feet. "So, what will run out first, that aura? Or his bullets?"

The first member ran in the same direction as the kid, leaving Jaune alone with the hooded member who placed his gun on Jaune's temple. Jaune braced himself as the member fired another shot at point blank range.

From behind a corner Robin flinched, seeing Jaune's aura flare up to take the hit. She saw the discomfort on his face as he struggled, before walking out of sight.

"Well if Kai was able to get away with it." Robin turned away and brought out a Pokéball, sending out Beedrill. "Listen Beedrill, there are two masked people with guns after some kid. Try and get them to safety but be careful, understand?"

Beedrill nodded, buzzing as he flew above everyone's heads quickly patrolling the alleys.

"As for him…"

As Robin went to get another Pokéball from her pouch, another shot was fired. The bullet casing fell to the side as Jaune groaned.

"If you think that you can hang on long enough for me to run out of bullets, just know that I have extras." The hooded member aimed his weapon again.

Jaune lay there, suffering from Remnants worst migraine. His mind started to fade, as the trauma was slowly getting to him, his mind began to trail.

* * *

 _"_ _Jaune. Jaune are you listening?"_

 _Jaune blinked and shook his head, standing opposite Pyrrha on the roof during one of their training sessions._

 _"_ _Sorry, I zoned out there for a second." Jaune apologised._

 _Pyrrha slowly walked past Jaune. "If you're not feeling up to it tonight, we could just head back to our room."_

 _Jaune turned around to face Pyrrha's back. "What?! No, I'm fine, just got a little distracted. Let's continue."_

 _Pyrrha stopped and turned to face Jaune. "If you're sure." She raised her spear and shield at Jaune, spreading her legs evenly apart. "Now come!"_

 _Jaune held his shield over his chest, before running forward with his sword raised in the air. Instead of moving or attempting to dodge Pyrrha waited, holding her spear tightly, with her eyes sharply gazing over it at Jaune. Jaune cried out swinging his sword down ferociously right when Pyrrha spun in place thrusting her shield upwards to knock Jaune's attack upwards taking him by surprise. Jaune wobbled as his balance was thrown off giving Pyrrha the opportunity to strike. Placing her feet down she thrust the tip of her spear in Jaune's chest plate knocking him on his back._

 _"_ _Ow-Oof!" Jaune gasped when Pyrrha stomped her brown boot on his chest keeping him pinned to the ground._

 _"_ _You're balance still needs plenty of work." Pyrrha pointed out. "Now try and get me off."_

 _Jaune panted, struggling to get up. He used the strength in his arms to grab Pyrrha's leg, as he pushed and pulled it in any direction, he could to get it off him. After a few seconds of struggling he relaxed, lying on the ground in defeat._

 _"_ _I… give up…" He panted._

 _"_ _That's not good enough Jaune. Keep trying." Pyrrha encouraged. "Remember what I said just now. I'm able to keep you down because my weight is balanced, so in order to free yourself you need to knock me off balance. Now try again, I know you can do this."_

 _Jaune groaned, applying what strength he had to lean slightly up. He stared at Pyrrha's foot resting firmly on her chest, not budging any time soon. Jaune stared at her boot before trailing off to the side where he noticed something, her other leg. Compared to the one on his chest this one was bent to deal with the different heights of her feet, adjusting itself to keep Pyrrha from falling. Jaune's eyes widened, staring at her foot with an idea._

* * *

Pyrrha's leg was suddenly replaced with the leg of the hooded White Fang members, with Jaune getting an epiphany. Before the member could fire, Jaune tightly gripped his sword and swung it at the members unoccupied leg with all the force he could muster. The swing slammed into the side of his heel knocking him over onto his side, allowing Jaune to free himself and get on his feet.

"Why you-!" The member groaned as he got to his feet, only for Jaune to shield bash him in the face to stun him.

Lightly growling Jaune wildly swung his sword around, delivering a flurry of slashing attacks that bombarded the extremist one after another, before giving a battle cry as he pulled his arm back, slamming his sword's into the members head, bashing him against the wall, making him thud on the ground unconscious.

Jaune panted in place slouching, relieved that it was over when a series of footsteps alerted him, to someone coming making him turn around defensively to see Robin walking towards him.

"… it's you…" Jaune wheezed.

Robin looked at him in slight bewilderment, a second ago she was thinking of a way to save him and now here he stood, single-handedly making a comeback.

"I saw what happened. Are you okay? You were shot in the head a few times." Robin asked sincerely despite the absurdity of that last part.

"…I'm good… Come on we need to…"

"If it's about the boy, don't worry I've got someone heading out to look after them." Robin looked at the defeated White Fang member in confusion. "Who were those people?"

"The White Fang… obviously…"

Robin went into thought. _'The White Fang… Where have I heard that name before?'_ Robin's eyes widened. _'I remember!'_

* * *

 _"_ _So, Team Flare are working with a group here in Remnant, what did you say they were called again?" Robin asked._

 _Robin sat on her bed opposite of Kai and Team RWBY, with Chesnaught and Greninja leaning against the wall._

 _"_ _The White Fang. They're a radicalised equal rights group who say they're promoting Faunus rights, when really, they're become a dangerous organisation out to cause as much damage as possible." Kai answered._

 _"_ _And what exactly is a Faunus?"_

 _"_ _You don't know what a Faunus is?" Blake asked._

 _"_ _Should I?"_

 _Kai awkwardly sighed. "Well the thing is where we're from there kind of… are no faunus. Just humans."_

 _The room was silent for a moment, with most of the group looking at Blake, with the exception of Robin and Chesnaught who looked at each other in confusion._

 _"…_ _I guess that makes sense. The fact that humans exist in two entirely different worlds is a crazy enough coincidence in the first place. And we already know your world doesn't have Grimm or Dust, so I suppose Faunus not existing is just another difference we have."_

 _"_ _I hate to interrupt, but would you mind telling me what a Faunus actually is?" Robin interrupted._

 _"_ _Faunus are basically the same as humans in every way except they have an extra limb, or an altered part of the body that is similar to an animal. Like: tails, ears, horns, you get the idea." Kai explained._

 _Robin took a moment to process the information. "And judging by how you said the White Fang was an equal rights group, I can only assume faunus don't have the same rights as humans."_

 _Blake looked down at the floor. "Yes. But it's a lot more complicated than that, it's not just lack of rights it's: discrimination, abuse, segregation."_

 _Robin looked at Blake. "You seem to care a lot about faunus rights."_

 _"_ _I suppose you could say I'm quite close to them… I even knew people who have been in White Fang."_

 _Robin stayed silent. "… Well for as little as it's worth. If faunus are just the same as humans then I see no reason why they should be treated differently. We're all people, right?"_

 _"_ _I mean technically not us two but we get your sentiment." Greninja pointed out gesturing at himself and Chesnaught._

* * *

Back in the present-day Robin was looking at the White Fang member with a disappointed look on her face.

"Jaune, call the police. They've probably already received calls about the gunfire, but we should let them know one of the perpetrators is here." Robin slowly walked towards where the other members and the boy ran off. "I'll follow their trail; I'd imagine the one I sent will have caught up to them by now."

"Hold on, you can't just go after them on your own!" Jaune argued with his breath back.

"Who ever said I was on my own." Robin clicked the heels of her trainers together, making wheels come out of the metal underside, transforming the trainers into roller-skates. "If you really want to help, restrain that guy so that it will make it easier to arrest him when the police arrive." With those final words said, Robin began sliding forward at a quick pace, following the path the others took. "Besides if the White Fang are working with Team Flare… maybe those members can lead me to them."

With Robin in the distance Jaune just sighed and leaned over, putting his hands on his knees. "I should have just gone to combat practice."

* * *

 **And here's the beginning of this new arc, I only plan for this to be short around 3 chapters but I hope to get some important points across. Specifically in this chapter we have Team CFVY being introduced early and Robin interacting with more of the RWBY cast specifically Jaune.**

 **I've also noticed that I've had Jaune interact with Kai and now Robin quite a bit, I didn't plan that but I guess he's just easy to write and suits the situation.**

 **Either way until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	39. Chapter 36: Light and Dark

**-Afternoon, Beacon Acadamy-**

"Gaah!"

Ren was sent tumbling backwards across the dimly lit amphitheatre. He panted getting up, staring at Fox who remained motionless waiting for him. A brief glance at the monitor behind Goodwitch revealed that his aura was low, specifically a dark amber colour while Fox's was still mostly green.

Fox raised his arms showcasing his weapon; a pair of bronze arm mounted blades. He charged at Ren forcing him to get up as the two locked blades. Fox front-snap kicked Ren in the chest knocking him off balance before delivering a series fast jabs in his stomach, finishing off with an uppercut. Ren flew upwards into the air, the wind knocked out of him before falling and rolling across the ground. Aiming his weapons' barrel's at Fox he began firing from the ground at his feet making him run off to the side, giving Ren time to get to his feet, focusing his aura into his palms making them glow pink. Fox leaped into the air over a great distance landing in front of Ren with his fists balled with brown aura outlining them. The two pulled back their arms as their palm strikes and punches collided with each other creating pulses of pink and brown aura. The brown aura being much larger and powerful breaking through the pink wave blasting Ren to send him flying onto his back.

A buzzer went off right as the lights in the Amphitheatre went back on, the screen behind Goodwitch revealing Ren's aura was very low in the red.

"And that's the match. I hope this first match puts in perspective just how strong you first years are, and how much you have left to improve." Goodwitch evaluated.

Pyrrha and Nora looked down seeing Ren defeated with saddened expressions.

"That was brutal." Nora moaned.

"At least he tried his best, we should be proud of him for that." Pyrrha kindly said.

Ren was breathing rapidly on his back when Fox appeared above him with his hand out. Ren smiled grabbing his arm as Fox helped him up onto his feet.

"Thank you for the experience…" Ren thanked, with Fox nodding in response.

From the stands Kai's gaze was fixed on Fox before shifting to Coco and Yatsuhashi. "The precision in that guy's attacks, the skill between him and Ren was like a regular trainer compared to an ace one. There's no question about it, I'm gonna have to use one of my team but which one?"

Yang looked at Kai. "Hey relax, it's just another sparring session."

"I am relaxed, I'm just thinking of a strategy." Kai retorted.

"What do you have so far?" Ruby asked.

"Right now. Play defensive, use one of my team, figure out the rest later. It would help if I knew what weapon Coco has, but all I can see in her hand is a bag."

"Maybe there's something in the bag." Ruby suggested.

"That would make sense, but right now that could be anything." Kai murmured; his gaze fixated on Coco's mysterious jewel encrusted bag.

* * *

In Vale's darkest streets, where buildings were empty and scheduled for decommission, two White Fang members were walking around staring at the shady buildings.

"Well this is just perfect. You had to go and lose the boy." The female member complained.

The deer-horned faunus looked at her in frustration. "The Huntsman jumped me by surprise! You would have struggled as well!"

"And that's another thing! Assuming the guy we left did his job, we have a dead Huntsman on our hands!" The female member looked away in annoyance. "This wasn't meant to go this way. It should have been simple, but _somebody_ just had to make a scene, and give the kid a chance to get away!"

"Oh, are you still mad about that!"

The female member suddenly put her hand up. "Shut up for a moment!"

"No, you listen here-!"

"I said shut up! I hear something!" The girl's donkey ears raised, slightly rotating left and right.

"Is it the kid? Where is he?"

"What part of shut up don't you understand?! And no, it's not the kid it's… something else." The member looked around, her head facing towards the sky. "It sounds like an insect… but louder, much louder."

As she looked around in confusion, above her head, hidden behind one of the buildings was Beedrill lying in wait. Despite what his species might make you assume, Beedrill seemed rather calm. His training with Robin drilled in when it was time to strike, and when it was time to wait, and right now it was the latter. After all Robin specifically told him to be careful and to prioritise the kid's safety, whoever they were, so for now he waited with his stingers poised.

The deer-horned faunus shook his head. "What insect? There's nothing here, let's hurry and find that kid, he has to be around here."

The female member looked back at him. "And what makes you so sure? How do you know he's somewhere around here?"

"A kid that age couldn't get far without tiring himself out, and besides… let's just say that thing the boss gave me is surprisingly useful."

"I still don't know why you got one, and I didn't."

The two White Fang members continued to argue, while the boy from earlier was hiding in fear. Hiding inside one of the empty buildings, he sat with his back against the wall and his furry arms wrapped around his legs. No matter how fast he ran those two always seemed to find him, he ran towards the light only to end up alone in the dark. He silently hoped that he would stay safe, that no one would find him, with the voices providing no comfort in that regard. He waited for a miracle, something to save him. A beam of light illuminated his face making the faunus boy look up. He saw a bright inviting glow from outside the building, an escape. He got up on his feet and as quietly as he could, he ran towards the light, running out of the building.

"There he is!"

The boy looked to the voice seeing the two White Fang members coming after him. Confused and scared the boy went to run again only for his body to seize up, covered in a purple aura. He struggled in place when his eyes were drawn to the illuminating light, or more specifically it's source.

The source came from a brown, bipedal meerkat like creature with a beige neck and beige chubby cheeks. The light specifically glowed from yellow stripings adorning its chest and tail. It glared at the boy with light purple eyes focused on him, his intimidating look keeping the boy petrified.

The boy could only stay still as the White Fang members caught up to him, with sinister looks.

"See I told you that _Watchog_ thing came in useful, it lured the kid right to us." The deer-horned faunus stated. "You're gonna wish that you followed me when you did, because now…" The White Fang member held his gun out. "We might have to get a little rough with you."

The second members extra ears raised in alarm making her gasp. "Something's coming!"

"From where?!" The grunt glimpsed a white light in the corner of their eye making them turn to see Beedrill firing a wave of energy needles, via Pin Missile. "Run for it!"

The missiles hit the ground creating an explosion that threw the grunts, the boy and the Pokémon back, slightly grazed but otherwise unharmed. Beedrill's buzzing intensified, as he flew down hovering over the ground with his two white stingers pointed at the ready.

* * *

In the distance the sound of an explosion and a very thin amount of dust rose into the air, the sight and sound getting caught by a skating Robin who gritted her teeth.

"Careful Beedrill, don't get distracted." She whispered to herself.

Further still was Jaune who was finished tying up the hooded White Fang member, with some conveniently nearby rope. He turned his head to see the thin almost transparent smoke.

"What's going on over there? Is that because of the girl or the person she sent?" He asked.

* * *

The deer-horned White Fang member scowled at the Poison Bee Pokémon, before looking back at the others behind him.

"You!" He pointed to the other White Fang member. "Take the kid and run! You-!" He pointed at the Watchog pulling out her Pokéball. "Fight that bee-thing and cover us!"

Watchog nodded before charging forward with her single pointed incisor glowing. "Watch Watchog! (I'll take care of it!)"

Beedrill buzzed loudly over the ground with purple stingers. "BZzZz~ **ZzZz**! (Outta the way! **Poison Jab!** )"

Beedrill thrust his venomous stinger in Watchog's chest making her gag, the force making her flip over Beedrill, making her land on her back knocked out.

"You've got to be kidding me! How useless are you?!" The White Fang member returned Watchog before turning to Beedrill with his gun raised. "All right bug! You're asking for it!"

Beedrill buzzed charging straight towards the fleeing member and child, right as the other member fired his gun. Beedrill's trigger instincts kicked in, allowing him to dodge the bullet with ease. He stared at the White Fang member tilting his head, his buzzing progressively getting louder as her twitched.

"Bzzzzzzzzz? (Did you just try to shoot me?)" Beedrill buzzed violently, preparing another Poison Jab. "BZZZZZZZZZ! (I'M GONNA MURDER YOU TO DEATH!)" Before the member could even hope to shoot again, Beedrill stung the member through his mask, jabbing him in the face, shocking him and taking him out.

Beedrill hovered over him angrily thrusting his stinger out, before stopping himself halfway. He shook his head, his buzzing getting quieter as he calmed down. "Bzz! Bzz… Bzzzzzz. (No! No… I'm better than that.)" He looked left and right for the missing member and the boy, but drooped having lost them. "Bzzz Bzzzz… (Stupid murderous intent…)"

A clicking sound suddenly distracted Beedrill, making him notice a small figure getting closer in the distance. His tinted red vision may not have been able to see clearly, but he knew that sound anywhere. He flew ahead, quickly meeting the figure halfway.

"Beedrill! Are you alright? I heard an explosion." Robin asked.

Beedrill gave an affirmative buzz as a response.

"Good, what happened to the boy, and that masked pair?"

Beedrill turned around and buzzed, flying over the defeated White Fang member, his mask was snapped in half on the ground, along with his gun and Watchog's Pokéball.

Robin stared at the man on the ground piecing what happened together. "So, I take it the other one took the boy and ran, while you were distracted fighting this guy and whatever Pokémon he was using?"

Beedrill glumly drooped his head and buzzed sadly.

Robin pinched her nose and sighed. "Honestly, every time I think I've sorted out that violent impulse in you, the second I leave you alone it takes over." Robin relaxed, looking at her Beedrill. "It's disappointing that we couldn't save the boy, but I suppose with two White Fang members the police should be able to handle the rest once they're in custody. And since this one used a Pokémon, he might have information to help us find Team Flare and get home. Overall you did good, considering I wasn't here to direct you." Robin patted Beedrill's head, pulling out her scroll, right when the White Fang member came to.

"Uu~uh… What…?" The member moaned.

The trainer and her Pokémon turned to the extremist. "Look who's still with us. I have a few questions for you." Robin stated.

"Yeah right. And what makes you think I'd answer to a bluman blike blue."

Robin looked at him with a strange look. "Bluman blike blue?"

"Bleh, blike-" The faunus stopped himself when he noticed his speech slurring, while scratching his neck. "Blow, no!"

The faunus' skin was quickly going red and blotchy, to match his now swollen tongue. Robin looked at him, quickly realising what was happening to him. "An allergic reaction? But to what?" Robin gasped. She looked around noticing the members' broken mask, then at her Beedrill. "Beedrill, did you sting this man?"

Beedrill tilted his head but buzzed in confirmation, coating his needles in poison to signify the move he had used.

"And you did it with Poison Jab as well, then there's no doubt about it." Robin looked at the suffering faunus gasping for air. "He's deathly allergic to bee stings, and given how your venom is much more potent than a regular bee, I doubt he'll even live for another minute."

Beedrill buzzed in shock, frantically buzzing and shaking his limbs in a frantic panic. Sure, he did it in self-defence, and yes for a brief moment he did want to kill him, but that was him from a minute ago, he was a different Bug-Poison type now. A non-murderous one.

"I don't blame you Beedrill, you acted in self-defence. But that still won't change the fact that he is probably going to die, unless…" Robin rummaged through her satchel pulling out an EpiPen. She quickly went to the White Fang member and stabbed the EpiPen in his thigh, making him wheeze, before he finally started to breath again, the symptoms of his anaphylactic shock disappearing.

"You saved me…" The White Fang member glared at Robin with hatred filled eyes. "Don't think this changes anything, I'm not telling you anything human."

"You don't have to tell me anything, but perhaps you have something to say to Beedrill." Robin snapped her fingers making Beedrill jab his stinger, a hair away from his neck. "The EpiPen I gave you was my only one of two, I'll accept your answers as compensation for it. Otherwise… well one sting from Beedrill won't cost him anything."

Beedrill buzzed reflecting the White Fang members scared look in his red eyes.

"Y-You're bluffing."

"Was I bluffing the first time Beedrill stung you?" Robin glared at the member. "If you think you're special you're wrong. Assuming the police haven't arrived, that hooded friend of yours may be more co-operative with me. Or perhaps I'll just find the girl that was just with you, I don't really care who I need to ask, you're just a lot more convenient at the moment… but you are replaceable."

A bead of sweat dripped down the member's neck landing on top of Beedrill's stinger, his Adam's apply bouncing up and down right under the sharp white appendage.

"… What do you want to know?"

Robin smiled picking up his dropped Pokéball. "That's better. Now where did you get this?"

The White Fang member grunted in frustration. "…I got it from my boss. I swear I don't know how he got it; he just said the guys in red were handing them out to some of us."

"Where is your boss?"

"I… I can't tell you that." Robin snapped her fingers, and Beedrill directly placed the tip of his stinger on his throat. "WAREHOUSE! By the pier there's a warehouse! 4-C! The girl I was with is taking the kid there now!"

Robin calmly looked at the man. "… Beedrill, keep him quiet."

The member's eyes widened in fear. "No! Please! I told you what you want-!"

Beedrill slammed the smooth part of his remaining stinger on top of the White Fang members head, knocking out the weakened faunus in a single blow.

"Thank you for the information, it would have been a pain if I had Beedrill knock you out after giving us nothing." Robin looked at the used EpiPen lying to the side of the member. "Hopefully this world has these in production. It would be embarrassing if I survived outside the city against deadly monsters only to die from allergies."

Robin placed Watchog's Pokéball in her satchel and quickly pulled out her scroll, sending a message.

* * *

Inside one of Beacon's changing rooms a scroll pinged. Kai turned away from his locker, reaching out a hand to pick it up, looking at the screen.

"A message from Robin? What would she want?" Kai said to himself, before putting the scroll in his pocket. "I'll have to look at it later, I don't have time at the moment." Kai pulled out his gauntlets from his locker, placing his hands inside them before closing the door with a shunt. He took a breath readying himself. "Win or lose, doesn't matter. I just have to give it my best shot."

Kai walked forward, out of the room towards a bright white flash. Kai walked out of the light onto the Amphitheatre stage where Coco was eyeing him down.

"About time you showed up. You ready to go?" Coco asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Kai answered raising his gauntlets defensively, staring at her bag.

 _'_ _We both have the element of surprise on our side, until I have a plan, I have to act carefully.'_ Kai thought, as the lights dimmed around them.

Behind Goodwitch the screen showcased Kai and Coco's aura, as she raised her arm. "Begin!"

Kai pulled on the bands in his gauntlet firing out his fist at Coco. Coco smirked, casually raising her bag and swinging it out to send Kai's fist flying to the side. Kai frowned, yanking his arm back while Coco casually walked towards him, her hips swaying with every step.

"Figures that wouldn't surprise you. Okay then let's try this out." Kai turned the dome on his right gauntlet hand, making it flash different colours before stopping on a brown light. Coco stopped smirking, pausing when Kai raised his palm outward, the shutter opening up. " **Makeshift: Rock Blast!** "

A brown rock peeked out of the shutter hole before shooting out as fast as a bullet. Coco quickly held her bag out to take the hit, before more rocks began jutting out forcing her to guard.

Crack-Crack-Crack-Crack-Crack-

Coco could feel the rocks smashing against her bag, grinding into dust and pebbles on the ground.

Crack-Crack-

Coco swung her bag forward smashing the rock before stepping forward. Time slowed when another rock was fired, Coco's bag swung back round to her smashing the rock to bits allowing her to take another step forward. Time sped back up, with Coco walking forward in stride timing her hits to break the rocks apart before they could even hope to harm her.

Kai stopped firing and put his arm to his side. "Well if ranged attacks won't work. Let's try melee!" Kai ran forward, raising his right gauntlet in the air. Coco stopped walking, tightening her grip on her bag's handle. Kai stomped the ground throwing his punch, when Coco used her bag to slap it to the side.

Kai smiled. "Knew you'd do that!"

Kai swivelled on his feet adjusting his position to throw a stronger left hook. Coco calmly let go of the bag with her right hand and thrust her arm to the side knocking Kai's arm away.

Coco smirked. "Same."

Coco stomped on Kai's foot making him lower his guard, then swinging her bag upwards with impressive strength into Kai's chest knocking him upwards. She held her bag to the side ready to strike again, when in mid-air Kai's eyes flashed blue activating his semblance. In his heightened state, reality appeared slower giving Kai time to process what was happening.

 _'_ _Okay, so melee isn't good either. Come on Kai, everyone has a weakness. Well except Eelektross but they have their own faults.'_ Kai's body turned in mid-air, with his Perception focusing in on the empty space behind Coco. _'Wait that's it! She's only been moving straight and blocking from the front, maybe she can't defend as easily from behind. And I know just who can stay in her blind spot.'_ Kai's perception quickly panned to Coco's bag coming towards him. _'Right, I should probably block that.'_

Kai crossed his gauntlets in front of his falling body blocking the incoming swing, slamming him back with an explosive aura. His body spun in the air, before skidding and rolling across the floor. Kai quickly got off the ground looking at his clothes and frantically brushing any dust and dirt he could see off him.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of getting a little dirty." Coco taunted.

"If you allow a little dirt on you, it's a slippery slope until it becomes a lot of dirt." Kai answered back brushing his belt and his pants.

Coco tutted. "Honestly I expected a bit more, coming from a cute guy like yourself."

Kai lightly blushed. "Um… being cute has nothing to do with it!" Kai coughed regaining composure. "Besides I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Kai suddenly shot out his right gauntlets' hand curving it across the ground.

Coco quickly reacted knocking the clenched fist away with her bag. "Didn't you learn from last time?"

"What makes you think I didn't." Kai let go of the bands in his gauntlet, making his fist unclench revealing a Pokéball inside that burst open in a bright light.

Coco turned around and gasped as the white light, turned black and solid. Noivern opened up his wings giving a cry as wind blew past Coco's face.

"Woah." Coco muttered in surprise. "When did-?"

Coco suddenly remembered the image of Kai patting himself down, brushing his gauntlet past his Pokéball belt. _'He did it when he brushed himself down?'_

Coco quickly grasped her bag, Noivern's face showed slight panic when his ears twitched hearing something moving. A metal hand suddenly grabbed onto Coco's shoulder dragging her towards Kai, surprising her with punch to the cheek knocking her to the ground.

"Now Noivern! **Use Dragon Pulse!** "

"Sorry about this!" Noivern opened his mouth releasing a purple draconic beam at the downed Coco. Unable to block in time she took the full force of the attack sending her off in an explosion of dust.

Noivern's hearing let him pick up on surprised whispers and murmurs around the room making him nervously look around. "Everyone sounds surprised."

Kai turned to his Pokémon. "Considering how in the other two matches, everyone else in our position was getting thrown across the room I can see why." Kai explained looking at Coco standing up. "But I'm not exactly like most regular people."

Coco readjusted the sunglasses on her face and smirked. "Not bad, looks like I'll actually have to start trying." Coco held onto her bag's handle, making Noivern's ears twitch again.

"Um Kai, I hear something in her bag." Noivern nervously stated.

Kai turned to Noivern. "Can you describe it? Does it sound big or small? Heavy or light?"

"It's a little difficult to explain but… it sounds like clicking. Like Klink's."

"Klink's?" Kai put his chin on his fist.

 _'_ _So gears. What could be in that bag made of gears? Unless…'_ Kai's concern activated his semblance allowing him to hear a similar sound from the bag.

"The bag is the weapon! But what sort?" Kai realised.

"Maybe a gun? They are common?"

"But what sort of gu-?"

Before Kai could finish Coco's bag suddenly underwent a complete transformation. It folded back and opened transforming into a brown and gold rotary gatling gun.

Noivern's eyes widened. "That's really big!"

Kai just stood there gaping. "…You'd think after three and a half months I wouldn't get surprised anymore. I was wrong." The gun began to rev up and spin making Kai nervously gulp. "Very. Very! Wrong!"

Coco pushed down her weapon's trigger unleashing a maelstrom of bullets at the duo. Noivern flew up to dodge, and Kai crossed his gauntlets to block. The bullets bombarded Kai's entire body forcing him backwards.

"Aaauuu-!" Kai groaned.

"Kai!" Noivern shouted flying towards Coco.

Coco quickly noticed him coming and repositioned her gun to trap Noivern in the bullets line of fire, peppering him with wave after wave of bullets.

Kai lowered his arms gritting his teeth. "Get away from him!" Kai pulled shot both his fists forwards at Coco, grabbing hold of the weapon in both hands. He pulled on his arms, redirecting her weapon away. "Now Noivern! **Use Boomburst!** "

Noivern screeched raising his head unleashing a powerful sound wave from his ears that surrounded Coco. She screamed loosening her grip on her weapon enough for her weapon to stop firing. Kai let go, blasting Coco away.

Kai's perception let him process information as he glared at Coco recovering.

 _'_ _Okay so that gun complicates things. Luckily if she focuses on one of us the other can counter-attack which should make us even but…'_

Kai's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Coco's barrel spinning from further back. "Noivern get further back! The bullets will spread out the further way we are!"

Noivern loyally nodded. "Got it!"

Coco's weapon began firing again at the two. Noivern flapped his wings forward making him ascend as he flew backwards. Kai ran using his perception, letting him sense the bullets coming towards him. Quickly glancing at his brown glowing dome, Kai turned in place and slammed his gauntlets hand on the ground, creating a pillar of rock to shield him from the bullets. He looked to the monitor to see his and Coco's aura's. His being amber and her's just about to be.

 _'_ _My total aura is lower than hers and she only needs to take me out not Noivern. I need to get an advantage over her, but what?'_

A chunk of rock broke to the side of Kai's head making him yelp as a bullet came through. "I need to buy some time." Kai looked at Noivern. "Fly in her blind spot. **Then use Supersonic!** "

Noivern nodded flying forward towards Coco. Noticing him she redirected her weapon to fire at him making him roll in mid-air to dodge. She repositioned her gun again forcing Noivern to twirl again flying around her, while her bullet trail followed him.

"Woah! Hey! Slow down!" Noivern cried out as he repositioned himself. He opened his maw emitting a high frequency wave towards Coco forcing her to stop firing and reposition. "You're not getting away that easily!"

Noivern used another Supersonic forcing Coco to transform her weapon back into its bag form to give herself easier mobility, to roll out of the way of the approaching dragon. Coco crouched transforming it back into a gun shooting rounds into the air in an attempt to hit Noivern.

From behind his rock Kai listened and waited for an opening. "From back here Noivern should still be able to hear me so I can try and give him commands like old times, but that's still no guarantee. Come on Kai think…" Kai looked into the air following Noivern's flight path when he suddenly darted away from the bullet path making Kai stare directly into the lights dazzling him. "Bright! Too bright! Wait…" Kai put his hand over the light letting the shadow cast over him, before looking at Noivern's black body and Coco's sunglasses. "That's it!"

Kai appeared out of his rocky defence turning the dome on his remaining gauntlet orange. He aimed it at Coco firing a Burning Laser at her, she barely reacted in time raising her weapon to cushion the blow.

Coco grunted staring at the slightly charred weapon. "You ruined the paint job." She aimed the weapon at Kai. "Prepare to die."

Coco started firing, the bullets slowing down in Kai's perception. Kai raised his left gauntlet firing a laser that passed through some of the bullets melting their casings and making them prematurely detonate, while other flew past the side of Kai's body.

Coco started frowning. "This guy doesn't ease up."

Kai pointed at the lights. "Noivern head towards the ceiling, wait for my signal."

Noivern looked up getting dazzled by the lights. "But it's too bri~ight."

Kai sighed. "Can you just put up with it for a bit. Please."

Noivern grumbled flying upwards. "Fi~iiine."

Coco looked up at Noivern. _'Attacking me from above?'_ Coco aimed her weapon at Noivern revving its barrel. "Nice try."

A burning laser shot past the side of Coco's face making her stare at its source, Kai with a gauntlet raised, an orange light coming out the hole in the palm.

"Your fight's with me." Kai said seriously firing off another laser, forcing Coco to weave to the side. Coco started firing at Kai making him run to side and use his right gauntlet to fire rocks at Coco which her gun quickly shattered.

Coco stopped firing briefly to aim her weapon ahead of Kai then starting again quickly making Kai stop in place and go back on himself to avoid the attack. Kai quickly aimed his gauntlet at Coco firing another laser that just missed.

"Getting tired already, and here I thought your eyesight was your specialty." Coco taunted.

"It is, well one of them anyway." Kai showed a smug smirk. "Shame it's not one of yours, Noivern now!"

Coco stopped firing looking up, through her sunglasses she saw a dark shadow over a bright light. "He wasn't aiming to hit me. He was just distracting me long enough so that he could get in position!" Coco realised.

Noivern craned his head opening his maw. "Okay! Here goes nothing!"

Kai pointed up at the lights. " **Use Boomburst! Straight up!** "

"Wait… Up?!" Coco yelled in conclusion.

Noivern's ears glowed, unleashing the concentrated sound. The force of the vibration and its high pitch crushing the lights with ease making them pop, one by one. Glass fell from the ceiling making shattering even more when it hit the ground until the popping stopped and the room was enveloped in darkness.

Coco stared into the darkness, cautiously aiming her weapon from side to side. The bullets around her hip and over her shoulder quietly clicked in the shadows, to most unnoticeable except to two pairs of sensitive ears. A pair of glowing blue eyes pierced the darkness granting perfect vision albeit tinted blue. The sounds of the combatants and the observing students vibrated through the air bouncing back and forth from speaker like ears providing a near perfect scan of the area. Coco slowly backed up towards the only source of light in the room, the screen showcasing her and Kai's aura. Despite it's bright light, it did little to illuminate the room making Coco more cautious. The sound of wind blowing distracted her making her look away causing her to not notice the metal hand coming right for her. It grabbed onto her leg making her gasp in shock before dragging her into the dark. "Ugh! Let me go you-!"

A hard metal object slammed into Coco's face knocking her sunglasses off. She transformed her weapon into a bag swinging it wildly in front of her, only for it to phase through the darkness. As time slowed Coco was motionless, behind her Kai's blue eyes flashed in the dark along with a burning orange light from his gauntlet. Kai slammed his palm into Coco's back knocking her forward.

" **Makeshift: Force Palm!** "

A fiery explosion detonated point blank against Coco's back lighting up the darkness briefly as she was sent flying. The light faded as Coco landed and rolled across the ground, lying on top of her bag. She narrowed her eyes trying to see something but couldn't, instead she only heard something. The sound of wings flapping.

" **Noivern use Supersonic!** " Kai ordered.

Noivern's high pitched wail made Coco cry out, covering her ears. She clutched the handle on her bag, swinging over her shoulder only to hit nothing once more. She got up in frustration transforming her weapon into its minigun form, as she fired indiscreetly all around her. Her vision nothing but black, and her concentration was shot as she suffered from confusion. She was hoping to hit something, anything-

 _CLICK_

Coco's weapon continued to spin before slowing down to a holt.

"You're all out of bullets." Kai's voice made Coco freeze. "And now you're out of time."

Around her Coco felt a cold breeze passing by her, no surrounding her. The wind, an element like sound and darkness that the human eye could not fully see through. If she could, then maybe she would see Noivern's blue wings flapping.

" **Noivern use Hurricane!** "

Noivern rapidly flapped his wings making a powerful tornado appear out of nowhere consuming Coco and sending her spiralling out of control. She cried out right as the move thrusted her into the ground with extreme force, the powerful winds dispersing in all directions. Noivern flew to Kai, with their enhanced senses they could see Coco lying on her back defeated.

"Is it over?" Noivern whispered.

The main lights turned back on making Kai and Noivern cover their eyes. Kai recovered looking at the aura screen seeing Coco's aura in the red.

"Yep, it's over." Kai answered.

Kai looked around seeing Coco's sunglasses lying on the floor, he walked over to them and picked them up hovering them over Coco's face. "I believe these are yours."

Coco looked upwards at Kai and Noivern, smiling as she got herself up.

"Man, you actually beat me." Coco took her sunglasses putting them back on her face. "Guess I have to step up my game."

"I know how that feels." Kai held out his hand, Coco glanced at it before the two shook hands.

Noivern meanwhile stared at the students, hiding behind his large wings. His ears twitched and turned listening in on everyone's conversations.

"Kai doesn't slow down once he gets going does, he?" Pyrrha commented.

"That'll teach them, doesn't that make you feel better Ren?" Nora asked looking at her partner.

"It was oddly satisfying." Ren answered.

"Looks like we're gonna have to step up our game if Kai's able to handle second years." Yang pointed out.

"I just wish we could have seen all of it." Ruby moaned.

"We probably didn't miss much." Blake consolidated, with her head looking into a book.

"Like you're one to talk with your head in that book." Weiss judged, causing Blake to leer at her before staring back at her fascinating geography book.

Along with most of the other students, even Goodwitch was taken aback. In her years of teaching the point of this sparring match was to show the gap in growth between years and to prepare students for the Vytal festival. It wasn't the first time a younger year had won, but it was certainly rare.

Goodwitch adjusted her glasses. "Now, students let's settle down. Since we have some extra time, we can have one more sparring session between your first years. Are there any volunteers?"

Kai petted Noivern kindly returning him to his Pokéball. "Thank you Noivern, I couldn't have done that without you. Take a break." Kai began walking off sighing in relief as he pulled out his scroll. "All right let's see what Robin wanted."

 **Robin: Went into Vale today and ran into some of those White Fang members you talked about. One of them had a Pokéball on them, apparently, they have a hideout at the pier in a warehouse, 4-C specifically. I'm going to investigate, let me know when you get this.**

Kai paused stopping in place with neutral look on his face. Suddenly bursting into a sprint, he ran as fast as he could. "Of course it turned out to be important! Of course it could help get me home! Why wouldn't it?!"

* * *

Meanwhile at the docks Robin stared at warehouse 4-C with her eyes peeled, Beedrill hovering behind her.

"This looks like the place." Robin murmured. "It's a good thing Jaune told me how to get to the pier during one of his romantic rants, otherwise I doubt I could have found it on my own." Saying his name made Robin remember Jaune getting shot at back in the alley, a small twinge of guilt for using him for her own gain and leaving him alone building inside her.

Beedrill buzzed by Robin's shoulder bringing her back to the current situation.

"Right. Jaune's a training Huntsman, he's probably fine."

A clanging sound surprised Robin and Beedrill, making her signal her Beedrill to follow her quietly. She carefully turned around a corner, seeing the last traces of a figure moving behind another one. Robin pointed where she saw the individual heading and snapped her fingers making Beedrill dart overhead. A second passed, then another… then…

"AAAAAAAAAAA~AHHHHH!"

A high-pitched girly scream followed by an audible thudding came from ahead of Robin. Slowly walking towards the sound of the voice Robin turned the corner and stared in surprise.

"…Jaune?"

Sure, enough Jaune was lying on the ground, with Beedrill intensely buzzing over him with his two large white stingers aimed for his throat.

Jaune turned his head to see Robin his eyes showing shock. "Y-You! Get back, save yourself!"

Robin just looked at him dumbfounded; any feeling of guilt she did have for him was gone; forever. Instead she pinched her nose before snapping her fingers making Beedrill hover off him and return to her side. "What exactly are you doing here?"

Jaune stared at Robin, then Beedrill. Then Robin. Then Beedrill. He slowly got to his feet gawking at them both. "That overgrown rapier wasp… belongs to you?"

Robin looked over at Beedrill. "I'm not quite sure what a 'rapier wasp' is but if you're referring to Beedrill here, then yes." Robin glared back at Jaune. "Now you answer my question."

"I… um…" Jaune babbled staring at the Pokémon and trainer. "That guy the one you told me to tie up, he started mumbling stuff while he was passed out, so after I called the police, I came to see for myself- I'm sorry are we just going to drop that?!" Jaune pointed at Beedrill.

Robin went to say something when she realised something. "When you called the police, did you tell them about the warehouse?"

"Aren't you going to talk about-?"

"Answer the question!" Robin put her fingers together making Beedrill buzz louder.

"Well yeah! Obviously! Right after I told them about where the guy, I tied up was." Jaune answered.

Robin gritted her teeth. "Perfect. Once the police come, they'll shut things down, and I'm not missing this chance again!" Robin stormed off with Beedrill following her closely.

"Wait!" Jaune called out following her. "Why are you here? And can you please explain the flying insect?"

Robin stopped and looked at Jaune with an agitated look on her face. "Just stop Jaune! Stop!" Jaune stood in place. "I don't like you. The only reason that I accepted your offer was so that I could understand what this place looked like, of course that's been difficult since you never shut up!" Robin stepped forward. "Now I will admit, if it wasn't for you, I would never have learned about this place and for that I am grateful. But right now, I can't afford any screw ups! I can't afford someone like you getting in my way! Of course, you already have because now I might only have minutes before the police show up and ruin this second chance of getting back to my home! So now I have rush in and hope, pray for a miracle!" Robin looked straight into Jaune's eyes. "So, get lost. Before I have Beedrill make you." Robin turned away beginning to walk towards the warehouse, Beedrill in following her diligently leaving Jaune to just stand and watch.

Jaune looked down at the ground. "I really messed up huh…" Jaune sighed. "I really am just selfish, just like when Kai was looking for his way home and all I did the whole time was complain and think about dating. I even skipped class today."

Jaune thought for a moment about how he forged his way into Beacon. How in initiation he was the damsel that Pyrrha had to save. How he got envious of Kai and refused Pyrrha's help, which led to him getting blackmailed and bullied by Cardin and Talonflame.

Jaune's eyes suddenly lit up as he remembered something else. Something that helped him realise who this mysterious girl and her insect were, and how even someone like him could help.

"You're a Pokémon trainer, aren't you?!" Jaune called out.

Robin stopped, freezing in place turning back to face Jaune. "How did you know?"

"I kind of, know someone else like you." Jaune answered. "His name's-"

"Kai. Yeah we've met." Robin interrupted. "If you do know who I am, then you should understand how important this is for me. I might not get another chance like this."

"I know, which is why I want to help." Jaune stepped forward only for Beedrill to fly in front of him poking his stingers on his armour. "Um… mind telling him I'm friendly."

"I don't know, are you?" Robin stepped forward. "Or are you helping me just so that you can get a date?"

"No! I'm not!" Jaune retorted adamantly. "I told you, I have a friend like you. A friend who this chance can help just as much as it can help you. Plus, there's that kid who might still be involved in this and the fact that you know, the White Fang are the bad guys!" Jaune pushed Beedrill's stingers away. "I'm a Huntsman, and being a Huntsman means putting yourself out there, to help others. Even if it doesn't help you at all… even if they don't ask for it."

Robin stayed silent, looking at Jaune. Beedrill stared between the two of them, one eye focused on each one until eventually Robin turned away.

"Fine. But if we're doing this, we're doing it my way. I won't let a mistake by you cost me. Got it?"

Robin started walking off again, and Jaune followed suit. "Yeah, you can count on me."

* * *

 **Alright so good news and bad news. Good news is that the next chapter will be the finale to this little mini-arc, bad news is that I'm going on holiday next week so you'll have to wait an extra week to come out.** **Hopefully this arc has held your attention, and that you can patiently wait until then.**

 **So until then, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	40. Chapter 37: Second chance

**-Afternoon, City of Vale-**

Robin was standing against the wall to warehouse 4-C, the hidden hideout for a group of White Fang members. On lookout was Jaune, walking back and forth moving his head from side to side. Higher up staring through a partially opened window several feet up was Beedrill, keeping his red eyes focused on whatever was inside.

Beedrill suddenly buzzed hovering down, getting to eye level with Jaune and Robin. He buzzed seeing Jaune but quickly ignored him, focusing his attention at Robin.

"Is this definitely the place?" Robin asked.

Beedrill gave an assertive buzz, nodding his head.

"Then I take it the place is packed with those grunts."

Beedrill repeated the same action.

"Can you tell us how many there are?" Jaune asked.

"…Bzz..."

Jaune stared at Beedrill in confusion. "So, is that a yes or…?"

"Beedrill can't talk, my Pokémon aren't like Kai's. Nobody's are really." Robin explained.

"Okay then how about…" Jaune rubbed his chin before his eyes lit up. "How about you just let us know in a different way. Have him show us how many on his hands."

"…"

Robin and Beedrill look at Jaune with deadpanned expression, then at each other, then back at Jaune. After a solid ten seconds of Jaune expecting an answer Beedrill raised his white stingers upwards, as the two gave him disappointed looks.

"… I see the problem with my idea now."

"It wasn't the worst idea though." Robin turned to Beedrill. "Beedrill, stab the air. The number of stabs is the number of grunts."

Beedrill buzzed in agreement rapidly stabbing the air in a second. Jaune looked at Beedrill with another confused look.

"Can you do that again, but slower?" Jaune asked.

Beedrill looked at Jaune buzzing in annoyance.

"The answer is six." Robin interrupted, leaving Jaune more perplexed. "My Beedrill used to know this move called Fury Attack. I trained him to make sure he landed as many hits as possible as fast as possible."

"Oka~ay. What about-?"

The distant sound of doors opening and closing stole the three's attention. Robin snapped her fingers ordering Beedrill to fly back up and continue viewing the inside of the warehouse.

"If only there was some way to know what's happening inside." Robin thought out loud.

"I've got it! Give me your scroll number." Jaune exclaimed.

Robin pulled out her scroll, looking at Jaune sceptically. "Please tell me this isn't another one of your pickup moves."

"It's not, think about it. If we share numbers, we can call each other and speak to each other."

"You're not convincing me."

"Let me finish!" Jaune interrupted. "If we give one of our scrolls to your bee he can hold it up to the window-"

"Then we can call it and hear what's going on inside." Robin realised. "Beedrill!" Robin snapped her fingers bringing Beedrill back down to their level.

Robin and Jaune quickly swapped numbers before Robin handed her scroll to Beedrill who carefully held it in his stingers, as he flew back up to the window. Robin nodded to Jaune making him ring her number, resulting in Beedrill _very_ carefully answering.

" ** _…_** ** _so you still won't talk. Honestly, I don't know if it's impressive or annoying that a deserter like you is staying this loyal._** _"_

"It's working!" Jaune cheered.

"Shush!" Robin hushed.

"Sorry." Jaune whispered.

Further above them through the window Beedrill was hovering behind, the inside of the warehouse was revealed.

The inside of the warehouse was large and mostly empty, barring the six White Fang members and the hostage they had tied to a chair.

Like the boy he had grey hair, green eyes, and furry arms. His arms and legs were bonded and tied to the chair where he was currently sitting. He lifted his face up panting, showing his face was heavily bruised in some places including a large black eye.

Walking up to him was one of the White Fang grunts, specifically the Lieutenant at the rally. "The both of us are on the same side here. We've both lost loved ones to this war: your wife, my entire family! That just makes it more important that we have to stay together, just look what happened to that other deserter, killed in his own book shop."

"…" The man just stayed silent.

The White Fang Lieutenant sighed. "Bring them in."

A back door opened and in came the donkey-eared White Fang member, forcefully bringing in the faunus boy.

"D-Dad?!" The boy cried out.

The father looked up at his son with panic in his eyes. "Kyle?!"

"Dad!" The boy cried out trying to reach him, only for the White Fang member to hold him in place.

"Just let him go, he has nothing to do with this!"

The White Fang lieutenant tutted. "Sorry, but like I said. With a cause like this it's important we stick together."

The donkey-eared White Fang member suddenly looked around the room, staring from corner to corner.

"Something wrong?" Another grunt asked her.

"It's weird I thought I heard something that reminded me of…" She suddenly stared at the window, seeing only the sky. "…nothing. Just being paranoid."

Unbeknownst to her and everyone else inside, Beedrill had just flown out of view reconvening with Robin and Jaune.

"We've got to get in there!" Jaune cried out.

Robin calmly collected her scroll from Beedrill. "I know, but let's think for a moment. There're six or seven grunts who may or may not have Pokémon on them. Not to mention the two hostages that could get caught in the crossfire. We need a plan."

"Right. Plan, plan…" Jaune quickly put his hands on his head in frustration speaking to himself. "Okay so there's two ways in and out, the front and the back. Why don't we surprise them from both sides?"

"Too risky, we might get the first move in but we still don't know where exactly everyone is inside, and we're still at a numbers disadvantage."

"Okay so… we separate the members, and we find another way in."

"Is that the best plan you've got?" Robin asked.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Jaune retorted.

Robin looked around and began pacing, pushing her trainer's intuition and strategy. The metallic clopping of her metal soles and the ground repeatedly echoing in her ears. She immediately stopped then looked at Jaune, then at her Beedrill, then the two together snapping her fingers.

"I've got it! But-" Robin paused.

"But what?"

"… For this plan to work, I need to count on you to do what I say. And you need to trust me, can you do that?"

Jaune nodded immediately. "You can."

Robin smirked. "Good, now tell me. How good is your long jump?"

"My what?"

Jaune looked at Robin as she explained the plan, as Beedrill stared up at the window, wondering what was happening inside.

* * *

The White Fang Lieutenant walked up to captured father, his mask inches away from the scared man's face.

"Now I'm gonna ask you one more time. Where. Are. The others?" He growled.

"They're- They're-" The man stuttered; in the corner of his eye he saw his petrified son. "They're getting ready to leave the city. I don't know where they are now but I know where they'll be."

The Lieutenant backed off. "Much better. Now then, where is that?"

The man nervously gulped. "It's… by…"

A loud metallic knock broke through the tense atmosphere making all the members look around in suspense. The front door slowly creaked open giving the White Fang time to prepare themselves, right before Jaune stuck his head out.

"Um excuse me, could you give me some directions? I think I'm in the wrong place?" Jaune nervously asked.

The White Fang members all glared at Jaune with looks that would even intimidate a Krookodile.

"Yeah. You are." One member answered back.

"Hey wait, I know this kid." The donkey-eared faunus pointed at Jaune. "That's the Huntsman who interrupted us before when we were trying to get this kid!"

"What? No. You must be thinking of someone else; I have one of those faces you know?" Jaune nervously smiled, repeatedly tapping his foot against the floor.

The White Fang lieutenant raised his hand gaining the attention of the members. "You four." Four of the members looked towards him. He clenched his hand into a fist. "Bring him to me."

Four of the White Fang members slowly walked to Jaune making him push against the door and run off as fast as he could. The White Fang members responded by running after him, opening the door and vanishing outside leaving: the man, his son, the lieutenant, the donkey-eared faunus and one more member inside.

"I'm sorry about that, now… where were we?" The lieutenant felt a light rumbling under his feet making him look down in confusion. "Huh?"

He felt the rumbling lessen, but it wasn't as if it was fading. More that whatever was causing this feeling was moving away from him, moving towards his hostage. A quiet crackling sound prickled through the air slowly getting louder, the floor under the hostage's chair began to crack.

"Huh, what's going- AAH!"

The floor collapsed underneath the man sending him falling into the ground.

"Dad!" Kyle called out.

The lieutenant ran over to the where the hostage once sat, looking down at the ground seeing a deep hole in the ground. "What the-?"

A similar rumbling was heard across the other side of the room right under the donkey-eared faunus' feet. "Wh-What's going on?"

A sudden eruption of dirt exploded under her, sending her straight into the air gagging. The dust cleared revealing Flareon head first in her stomach. The two fell down through the air with Flareon landing gracefully on all four of her paws, followed by the White Fang member clumsily landing on her face with a loud thud. The sound of scraping was heard from inside the hole behind her, right as Robin slowly climbed out of the hole in the ground.

"Good work Flareon." Robin stared at her Flareon then at the previously captured faunus boy. "Don't worry, your dad's safe, now hurry and get in the hole." Robin glared at the approaching White Fang members. "I'll handle things here."

"Bu- But what about that guy who save me before. He- he needs help too." The boy stuttered as he slowly went in the hole.

Robin smiled. "You have a good heart, but you don't need to worry about him. In fact, him getting in trouble was all part of the plan."

* * *

Back outside a trainer (the footwear, not the Pokémon kind) splashed in a puddle followed by a series of thunderous footsteps. Jaune was running as fast as his legs could carry him. He heaved between steps, as he cautiously looked behind him to see four White Fang members charging after him, gradually catching up.

"Yeah, looking back was a bad idea!" Jaune shouted in a panic.

* * *

 _"_ _You want me to what?!"_ _Jaune asked Robin._

 _"_ _I want you to go in there, make up an excuse and lure some of those members out. Since that woman from earlier is in there, they'll figure out you took down that other member and see you as a threat." Robin explained._

 _"_ _I got that but, I don't know if I can take out all of them. I may have taken one down but that was just luck."_

 _"_ _Well I don't believe in luck, just odds. And if you let me finish, you'll know how I can help put them in your favour."_

* * *

Those words repeated in Jaune's head as he continued running, his eyes getting caught by a set of oil drums.

"I hope you're right about this." Jaune quickly turned and ran towards the oil drums, performing a long jump over the ground before clumsily tumbling onto his side. "Ow…"

"Heh, idiot. He's got nowhere to run now." One of the White Fang mocked as the four of them all ran together.

Jaune turned to face them as he stared at their feet. "Come on, come on. Please work."

The White Fang members charged forward stepping on the ground. As their feet stepped down on the concrete everything seemed to slow down in Jaune's perspective, the nervous sound of his heartbeat pumping at the exact moment their feet were firmly planted.

A purple light glowed under their feet making the White Fang members look down in shock. Another heartbeat later, all four had been consumed by a venomous purple aura. All four members collapsed to the ground with purple bubbles flowing out of their mouths.

"What is this?"

"I feel sick."

"Did he plan this?"

"Anyone here that buzzing?"

Sure, enough a loud buzzing sound was alarmingly close to them. With what strength they had, they saw Beedrill flying behind them, before looking back in front of them seeing Jaune standing on his two feet with his sword and shield equipped.

Jaune and Beedrill looked at each other, with Jaune smiling.

* * *

 _"_ _Toxic what?" Jaune said in confusion._

 _"_ _Toxic Spikes. It's a status move that scatters a trap in the ground that poisons any enemies that step into it." Robin explained. "Beedrill will set them up, and all you have to do is lure the members to that location. Then they'll be easy pickings for the two of you, of course since you'll be entering the area Beedrill can only scatter them in a single spot so that you don't get poisoned too."_

 _Beedrill buzzed to show he understood and Jaune gulped._

 _"_ _All right, I'll try my best." Jaune declared._

 _Robin brought out another Pokéball, sending out Flareon. She snapped her fingers making Flareon use Dig, as she slowly made her way into the hole._

 _"_ _Don't try. Do." Robin coldly stated, dropping into the hole._

* * *

Jaune smiled charging forward with his sword raised, along with Beedrill with his stingers out ready to sting.

 _'_ _All right. It's all up to you now.'_ Jaune thought.

"YAAAAAH!"

"BZZZZZ!"

The poisoned White Fang members braced themselves as they were struck from both sides in an instant.

* * *

The sound of a gun firing filled the warehouse. The remaining White Fang member stood gunning down Robin's approaching Flareon only to miss every shot in typical stormtrooper fashion.

" **Flareon use Fire Spin!** Aim at their feet!" Robin ordered.

Flareon stopped in place, opening her mouth to breathe a spiralling stream of fire at the ground trapping the White Fang members in a fire tornado, immobilising them and witling them down.

"One down." Robin stared at approaching Lieutenant. In his right hand was a long dark grey chainsaw intensely spinning. Flareon leaped in front of Robin standing on all fours, with her tail raised and pointed. "One to go."

The Lieutenant charged at Flareon swinging his weapon down. Robin snapped her fingers, commanding Flareon to leap backwards dodging the swing as the chainsaw ripped through the floor. The Lieutenant recovered, swinging his chainsaw horizontally at Robin's hips. Robin gasped managing to get out of the way just in time, but left herself wide open.

The Lieutenant spun around swing again. "You're dead!"

"Flareon! **Flare Blitz!** "

The Lieutenant suddenly felt a large amount of heat coming from his side rapidly getting hotter. Before he could even react, Flareon tackled into his side dragging him across the room in a blazing fireball, colliding with the wall in a blazing explosion.

Robin sighed in relief. "Phew, that was too close."

Flareon flew back out of the smoke, landing neatly on all fours. Orange sparks surged off Flareon signifying the recoil damage, before she shook her head dispelling them. She looked to her trainer for approval, sitting neatly on her back paws with her front paws in front of them.

Robin kneeled down stroking her head and back. "Thank you for that. Although if I'm being honest you did jump too far back when you dodged, which cost you time when you came to attack."

Flareon immediately pulled away her head from Robin's hand, closing her eyes and looking away giving an upper class look of disapproval.

"Don't be like that, you know I'm right."

Flareon continued pouting while at the edge of the room, the wall began to crack as rocks fell from the new crater in the wall. The White Fang Lieutenant lay on the floor coughing, his clothes singed and his body beaten. He looked up seeing the trainer and her Pokémon in the distance, the sight making him sick.

"Damn her…" The Lieutenant reached inside a pocket pulling out a Pokéball. "Let's see if this thing obeys me this time…"

Flareon's ears pricked up and she opened her eyes. She stared at the Lieutenant, and prepared herself. Robin noticed the sudden change in Flareon and followed her gaze to spot the Lieutenant.

"He's still trying to fight back. In his condition." Robin gazed at the odd coloured item in his hand. "Wait a second."

"Try this one on for size…" The Lieutenant pressed the button on the Pokéball releasing a massive amount of light.

The light grew and took shape, transforming into a large Pokémon with a serpentine body. It was mostly blue, with a yellow underbelly and yellow spots along its body. It had a three-pointed, dark blue crest on its head and four white, dorsal fins. Flying in the air it looked around the strange environment roaring it's piercing cry, making pebbles shake.

Robin stood up, with her Flareon at the side of her leg. "A Gyarados?!"

The Lieutenant chuckled. "Listen to me monster! Attack those two! Now!"

"GYASHAA!" The Atrocious Pokémon screamed before smacking its head against the wall.

"What?! Do as I say! Attack them!" The Lieutenant commanded.

" **GYASHAAAAAA!** " Gyarados thrashed around the room smashing against the walls, the floor, even the upper floors, breaking everything, it smashed against.

Robin gritted her teeth. "It's going on a rampage; I need to contain it." Robin thrust her arm forward. " **Flareon use Fire Spin!** "

"Flareee~!" Flareon exhaled another spiral of flames towards the Gyarados.

The Gyarados saw the flames coming and slammed its tail on the ground, creating a strong wind that snuffed the flames out. Robin clenched her fists as the Gyarados cried again charging backwards and smashing through a damaged wall, breaking through and escaping to the outside, as the wall collapsed behind it.

"It's escaped. If it's gets to the water then there'll be no guarantee it can be found. And if it gets into the city, who knows how much destruction it could cause." Robin stared down at her Flareon. "Fire isn't a good match against water, return for now."

Robin returned Flareon and began heading towards the hole in the wall, only to be stopped by the Lieutenants coughing.

"I… I don't understand…" He coughed again. "Why did yours listen to you… but not mine…"

Robin glared at the Lieutenant. "Because it was never yours to begin with. I caught my Pokémon and trained it. You just took a captured one and expected it to do what you said because what? You're holding a metal ball." Robin looked away from him, and looked towards the fleeting Pokémon. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to clean up your mess. And when that's done, you're going to tell me everything you know about Team Flare. Don't bother trying to escape, you'll only hurt yourself."

Robin clicked her heels together, bringing out her skates for the second time that day as she rushed off. The White Fang Lieutenant panted, holding one hand over his chest as he struggled to get onto his knees. With his other he reached into another pocket grabbing out a scroll and painfully typing a message. He pressed the send button and gasped, collapsing onto the ground. A moment passed, and then another, and then a bright light suddenly appeared inside the warehouse, illuminating his unconscious body.

* * *

"Aaaa~nd done."

Jaune placed the last defeated White Fang member in an oil drum alongside the others in similar barrels. All of which were knocked out, and very, very sore.

"Phew." Jaune wiped his forehead taking a breath. He looked behind him, seeing Beedrill flying stationary in the air. "You could have helped you know."

Beedrill just stared at Jaune, slowly pointing his stingers upwards.

"Right. No hands." Jaune looked towards the warehouse in the distance. "Come on, let's head back and see if your trainer needs any help."

Beedrill buzzed, not in agreement but more in understanding. He knew Robin, and he knew she'd be fine. After all what is the worst that could happ-

" **GYAAAAAAH!** "

The side of the warehouse facing them suddenly exploded, with Gyarados flying out of it in a rage.

"What is that?!" Jaune shrieked.

Beedrill intensely buzzed, noticing the mad Pokémon. He raised his stingers and charged forward, flying through the air at high speeds.

"Wait! Don't just-!" Jaune sighed. "C'mon…" Jaune stared at the incapacitated White Fang before running off after Beedrill.

* * *

"GYASHAAA!" Gyarados cried out.

He flew through the air taking in his new, unfamiliar surroundings. He remembered thriving in the seas attempting to eat a Krabby for a mid-day snack, when he was interrupted by some strange humans. The next thing he knew, everything was black, until now.

"GAAAAAAAA!" Gyarados' opened his wide mouth, upchucking a purple fireball of draconic energy that blew up another warehouse as though it were a balloon. Debris fell everywhere, smashing into even tinier pieces when they hit the ground. "GAAAAAAA!" Gyarados repeated this motion with another warehouse, blowing it to kingdom come. His eyes darted left and right trying to find some semblance of his home when his eyes were fixated on the nearby dock. "GYASHAAA!" Gyarados cried again, flying straight towards the inviting water.

Waves of white glowing needles flew through the air, making Gyarados turn his head to face them. The missiles exploded against Gyarados, creating a large explosion.

"Bzzz~zzz." Beedrill's stingers lost their glow, and his glossy red eyes became entranced by the smoke from his move's explosion.

" **GYASHAAA!** " Gyarados roared, propelling the smoke away in an instant. He stared at Beedrill with eyes full of rage, making Beedrill shudder as a blue aura enveloped him. He reeled his head back and spat another draconic blast at Beedrill.

The light of the attack glistened in Beedrill's eye, before he suddenly flew past it in a flash. The attack went going and exploded against the ground sending debris flying. One particular piece of debris flew backwards eventually getting stopped by a white shield.

Jaune pulled back his shield and stared at the ensuing battle, inhaling and exhaling. "Yeah, I really should have just stayed in class today."

Beedrill buzzed around Gyarados' head making him dart it left and right, only for Beedrill to disappear and reappear in a blur. Gyarados shook his head to the left, only for Beedrill to appear above his head in Gyarados' blind spot.

" **ZzZz!** ( **Poison Jab**!)" Beedrill's stingers glowed purple with poison, right before furiously stabbing Gyarados in the back of his head.

"GYAAA!" Gyarados cried out. He whipped his head around forcing Beedrill to retreat into the air, causing both combatants to ascend further up into the air. Beedrill stared back at Gyarados, right when Gyarados screeched, sending out a purple illusion of his face with glowing red eyes. The illusion phased through Beedrill making him slow down as a blue aura engulfed him.

" **GYASHA!** " Gyarados accelerated opened his mouth wide, showing his glowing canines. Beedrill flew upwards to get away but was too slow. He was cloaked in Gyarados' shadow, his massive maw eclipsing Beedrill before snapping down on the bug type with an audible crunch.

Gyarados continued gnawing on the insect inside his mouth, before spitting him out at bullet like speeds. Beedrill's damaged body shot downwards through the air, his declining strength just enough for him to stay conscious enough to realise where he was going. With the dock's image reflected in his eyes, Beedrill crashed into the water, forming a massive water spout.

Gyarados cried in victory, the sound of his voice making Jaune tremble in place. Jaune took a step back, then another as he stared at the monster above him. He looked left and right for help only to realise how alone he was. He took another step back, when he heard the sound of a splash.

Jaune looked to the water, seeing Beedrill struggling to stay afloat. The Poison Bee attempted to fly out but the water made his wings too damp and heavy, unable to support his weight. He thrashed about, slowly getting closer to the shore, using what strength his years of training had given him.

"GYASHAAAA!"

Gyarados turned to the sound of Beedrill, his rage unquenched and his breath gritty and rough. Flying over to the defenceless Beedrill he opened his mouth, preparing a purple fireball to finish the battle. Permanently.

Not knowing what came over him, Jaune tightened his grip on his sword and shield. "Hey ugly… thing!" Jaune insulted, before loudly bashing his sword against his shield creating a large amount of racket.

Gyarados shook his head, turning towards the source of the aggravating sound his eyes focused on the annoying human before him. " **GYAAA!** " Gyarados shot the rage filled fireball at Jaune making him raise his shield in defence. His shield blocked the brunt of the hit, but the force sent Jaune tumbling backwards.

"That probably wasn't the smartest idea…" Jaune groaned, turning over. He looked up, seeing the Gyarados flying over with his mouth open and teeth glowing, making Jaune panic. "It definitely wasn't! It definitely wasn't!" Jaune attempted to run, but the Gyarados was coming in too fast. With no other option he grabbed his sword and pointed it at the oncoming beast, ready to defeat it, or die trying.

 _"_ _ **GRRRRAAAWR!**_ _"_

The monstrous roar distracted the Gyarados, making him look away from Jaune, only for him to be slammed against a: massive, ridged, scaly brownish red tail. Jaune's face showed complete shock as the Gyarados gaped in pain, the force knocking him down onto the ground with a powerful crushing sound.

Before Jaune could even begin to comprehend the situation, he felt the ground shake. Then it shook again. And again. And then Jaune suddenly felt a chill go across his entire body, he looked around to see something had blocked out the sun, and what he saw made him shake in place.

"T-T-T-T…"

Standing more than 8ft tall was a bipedal creature of prehistoric proportions. It was predominantly brownish red with scaly patterns on its skin and scattered orange highlights on some scales and ridges. Its head was proportionately large with a blunt, ridged snout and powerful jaws. It had black around its eyes and a light grey lower jaw covered by a beard of white, primitive feathers. Several sharp teeth are visible in the lower jaw, while the upper jaw is lined with orange-tipped, tooth-like projections. Over its eyes are a row of five spikes resembling a crown. Around its neck is a feathery white ruff that extends over its shoulders similar to a cape. Its underbelly is grey with white borders and there are two orange spikes near the tip of its long tail. Its small forelimbs have only two black-clawed digits each, but it has powerful hind legs with three black claws each, and plated, armour-like ridges cover its knees, back, and the top of its tail.

The creature took another powerful step, craning its head to the sky.

" **GRRRRAAAWR!** "

"T- T-Rex?!" Jaune shouted.

The rampaging Gyarados began floating back up, staring at the new challenger.

" **GYASHAAA!** "

At the edge of the docks, Beedrill used the last of his strength to pull himself onto dry land. He coughed up water, and his once intense buzzing now sounded like a dying engine. As he lay there, a familiar clicking sound caught his attention, followed by Robin being seen in his red-tinted view of the world.

"Bzzzz… Bzzzz… (Sorry… Robin…)" Beedrill buzzed in defeat.

Robin calmly kneeled down bringing out Beedrill's Pokéball. "You've done more than enough for today. Rest up." Robin tapped the ball against Beedrill's head returning him. She quickly got up and stared at the T-Rex creature and Gyarados facing off.

 **"** Tyrantrum!" Robin snapped her fingers, making the T-Rex stop it's roaring and focus itself. Robin clicked her heels again turning her roller skates back into regular trainers, and slowly walked forward. " **Use Rock Slide!** "

Tyrantrum roared craning his body up to the sky. Underneath his weight pebbles splintered off from the ground, and above him large boulders began to form in the middle of the air. Tyrantrum lurched his head down making the rocks fall from the sky, causing massive destruction to the area they landed. As they fell Jaune ran through the oncoming attack, narrowly dodging the falling boulders.

"Hey! Watch it! I'm still-!" A rock landed just in front of Jaune, making him nervously chuckle and fall on his back.

Meanwhile Gyarados flew into the air, swiftly swimming through any available gaps through the rocks and making his way closer to Tyrantrum with glowing fangs.

"It's going to use Crunch, if that's the case…" Robin pointed forwards. "Make it attack your tail!"

Tyrantrum flung his tail forward which Gyarados snapped his jaws on. Tyrantrum cried out, slamming his tail and the Gyarados onto the ground.

" **Now use Crunch!** " Robin ordered.

Tyrantrum opened his mouth, his sharp teeth glowing right as he chomped down on Gyarados' neck. The Pokémon writhed and wriggled in pain, until the move exploded sending Gyarados skidding away. Gyarados growled getting back up, his movement sluggish due to the damage he had accumulated so far, beginning to show. His growl became a shout, as he sent out the purple illusion of his face at Tyrantrum. Similar to Beedrill, Tyrantrum was consumed by the image making him shake his head, and causing a blue aura to fall over him.

"So now it's using Scary Face to slow us down. Like we needed speed in the first place." Robin gestured her arm out. " **Rock Slide!** "

Tyrantrum craned his head again, creating more boulders to rain down. However now Gyarados had the first move. Gyarados rotated his tail rapidly in a circular motion, creating a powerful twister, he cried out, sending the tornado at Tyrantrum, trapping him inside and knocking him off balance forcing the Rock Slide to dissipate.

Robin clenched her fists. "A super-effective Twister, and a flinch. Come on…" Robin stared at the dissipating winds focusing on the Gyarados. "This thing may be wild, but it's strong, and seems to have had plenty of experience, I need a new strategy and quick."

Gyarados took his next move firing a draconic blast at Tyrantrum with precision accuracy.

"No time to dodge that Dragon Rage, we'll have to power through." Robin swept her arm. " **Tyrantrum! Rip through it with Dragon Claw!** "

"GRRAWRR!" Tyrantrum brought out its claws making them extend and glow white with purple outlines. He drew them back and slashed the Dragon Rage, causing the attack to split in two and pass by Tyrantrum before exploding in the distance.

The sound of the explosions made the air rumble, along with the remains of Tyrantrum's previous Rock Slide. From behind one of the large trembling rocks Jaune peeked his head out staring at the chaos.

"Come on Jaune, come on. Just one step at a time-" Jaune put one foot forward, only to wobble in place and become unbalanced due to the two large Pokémon clashing. "Okay, never mind. Think Jaune, think." He began thinking of his options.

 _'_ _Okay so what can I do? I can't run, I can't fight, and I'm all alone so I can't call for help…'_

Jaune's thoughts were interrupted by another rumble, this time making his scroll fall out of his pocket. He grabbed it and started putting it back in his pocket, only to stop halfway and look at it's screen. "Actually, maybe I can…"

Back on the battlefield Tyrantrum and Gyarados charged at each other colliding head first, the two of them pushing against each other for supremacy.

"Come on Tyrantrum! Dig your claws into the ground!" Robin ordered. She stared at the fight; her fists balled tight. "Why haven't I won already? I've beaten ace trainers, gym leaders, the elite four, so why can't I beat a wild Gyarados?" As Robin thought about her current predicament, she felt a vibration at the side of her minidress, along with an odd tune. She reached into a pocket, pulling out her scroll and answering it. "Hello?"

" ** _Hey, it's me_** **.** " Jaune answered.

"Jaune? Now isn't a good time." Robin groaned.

" ** _I know, but have you completed your end of the plan?_** _"_

Robin stared at the ongoing battle. "Just tying up a few loose ends. Look I really have to go I need to-"

"GRRAWRR!" Tyrantrum roared.

" ** _RAWRR!_** _"_ Her scroll repeated.

Robin's eye's narrowed. "Jaune, where are you right now?"

" ** _Well the thing is, and I know this sounds crazy. I'm kind of stuck between a flying blue serpent dragon, and a T-Rex._** _"_

The two Pokémon cried; their voices being heard through both sides of the call.

" ** _Hold on? Did I just hear them in the call?_** " Jaune asked.

"About that loose end, the boss brought out a Gyarados that was too strong for him to control. So, I sent out my Tyrantrum to keep it contained." Robin explained.

" ** _This is keeping it contained?!_** "

"Tyrantrum is my only Pokémon strong enough and large enough to pin Gyarados down in one location. He should have been able to defeat it by now but…" Robin went silent.

" ** _Okay look, I don't know if this will help but it seems attracted to noise._** _"_

Robin's eyes narrowed. _"_ What do you mean by noise?"

" ** _You know, loud sounds. Splashing, banging, that sort of stuff. I noticed it before when it went after your bee when it was splashing around, and I was able to lure it away by hitting my shield like a drum._** _"_

"That's…" Robin thought back to when the Lieutenant first brought out Gyarados and how he first went rampant after he shouted at him. "…actually brilliant."

" ** _Well I don't mean to toot my own horn but-_** " Jaune was cut off by the sudden quaking of Tyrantrum and Gyarados, the two of them charging into each other and biting into each other's side with Crunch.

"Jaune! Are you alright?!" Robin asked concerned.

" ** _Barely…_** " Jaune groaned.

Robin looked around, her eyes darting left and right as she tried to think of a plan. She stared at: remaining warehouses, the pier, the open areas of concrete, piecing a plan together.

"Come on, come on…" Robin whispered to herself.

A loud crashing sound broke through Robin's train of thought, due to Tyrantrum getting shoved back across the pier, his claws digging up the concrete. He growled at the Water/Flying type, while it prepared another Dragon Rage attack.

" **Rip it apart with Dragon Claw!** Same as before!" Robin commanded.

Tyrantrum heard Robin's warning and prepared his Dragon Claw, right when Gyarados used his move. Tyrantrum used his physical dragon move to force the Dragon Rage off to the side, shooting downwards towards Jaune.

Robin saw it and her eyes widened. "Jaune! Watch your left!"

" ** _Huh?_** " Jaune looked over to his left seeing the incoming attack making him open his mouth in panic. However, before any sound could escape, the attack closed in, consuming the area in a purple explosion.

Robin gasped, staring at the purple smoke. "Jaune?"

"…"

Robin stared at the remains of the attack only for a mysterious shadow to fly out at supersonic speeds.

"Sorry for the wait. You didn't exactly leave a message at the best time."

Robin looked behind her seeing Kai tipping his fedora which Robin responded to by keeping a neutral expression. "Took you long enough."

"I did apologise." Kai pointed out.

A sudden gust of wind alerted Robin and Kai to the arrival of Talonflame, his talons holding onto Jaune's shoulders.

"I've already lost count of all the times I've had to save wimps since we've got here." Talonflame groaned.

"Th-Thanks…" Jaune stuttered trying to get readjusted to his bearings.

Kai looked at Gyarados and Tyrantrum, then all the destruction around them. "I guess the room isn't the only thing that you keep messy."

"What was that?" Robin commented harshly.

Kai awkwardly coughed. "I mean… Do you have a plan?"

Robin looked at Talonflame, then Gyarados, then Tyrantrum, then her surroundings. "I do actually, but in order for it to work your Talonflame will need to get close and distract that thing until everything's set up."

"How close?"

"Close enough so that he's louder than everything else." Robin looked at Talonflame. "Or is that too difficult for him?"

Talonflame grunted. "Just watch me." Talonflame flapped his wings flying straight at Gyarados, cloaking himself in flames. "Hey Gyarados!" Talonflame charged into the side of Gyarados' head knocking it away. "LET ME SHOW YOU THE STRENGTH OF A REAL FLYING TYPE!"

"GYASHAAA!" Gyarados roared, his attention captivated on Talonflame, flying circle's around his head.

He opened his mouth, attempting to bit down on Talonflame with Crunch, only for Talonflame to ascend into the air. Before he could recover, Talonflame slammed down on his head with Fly pushing his head downwards towards the ground.

"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT! HERE I WAS EXPECTING A CHALLENGE!" Talonflame shouted.

"GYASHAAA!" Gyarados roared in rage.

Tyrantrum stared at the furious flying types, ready to get in on the action when the sound of a snap drew his attention away. He stared at his trainer and walked towards her, slightly intimidating the other two humans next to her.

"Sooo… what was your plan?" Jaune asked.

"Alright, listen up. Because I'm only going to say this once." Robin began.

While Robin was explaining her plan, Talonflame and Gyarados were flying high above their heads. Gyarados flew forward preparing another Crunch, only for Talonflame to flap his wings performing a shuttle loop over Gyarados diving downwards. Gyarados found Talonflame and began charging downwards after him, with his mouth wide. Talonflame stared down at the oncoming ground without hesitation or doubt in his mind, slightly tilting his wings he increased the drag on his body, slowing him down and giving the Gyarados a chance to get closer. Less than two feet away, Talonflame repositioned his wings, tilting his body in an instant and flying horizontal just over the ground. Before Gyarados could adjust he flew straight down into the ground face first, making him fall flat. Talonflame flapped his wings again, straightening himself as he stayed stationary in the air staring at the recovering Gyarados.

"Is that seriously all you've got?!" Talonflame complained.

Gyarados floated into the air breathing heavily, the wear from three back to back Pokémon battles taking its toll.

" **GYASHAAA!** " Gyarados cried readying another attack.

 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Gyarados' head shook, looking for the sound of the pesky alarm. His gaze turned to Jaune arc lifting his scroll up.

"Hey, you like that?! Then you'll love this!" Jaune began bashing his sword and shield together creating even more noise.

"Gyash!" The Gyarados set its sights on Jaune ready to strike.

 _CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!_

Another noise caught the Gyarados' making him turn his head away. His focus now was towards Kai who was using his gauntlets to pick up and smash empty oil drums against each other. Kai shot one of his gauntlet's hands out grabbing onto the edge of an oil drum, and began swinging it around, slamming it against another one.

"Don't mind me, please go about your regular business." Kai remarked.

Gyarados looked at Kai, then back at Jaune, then Kai, then Jaune. His concentration coming from two equally aggravating sounds from the Huntsman in training.

"Hey mister!"

A child-like voice interrupted Gyarados, making him look behind him only to see Noivern. "You think they're loud, well they're not as loud as me! Listen to this!" Noivern craned his head, releasing a Boomburst straight up. While the waves didn't directly hit Gyarados, the volume of the move still aggravated his already assaulted ear-drums.

Talonflame stared at Gyarados looking between the three sources of noise, unable to concentrate on one long enough to make an attack. Talonflame smirked. "So that's the girl's plan. Almost sounds like something Kai would come up with."

Talonflame flapped his wings flying all around Gyarados' face, making him jerk his head all over the place to try and swat him away. With Gyarados distracted from all sides, he remained stationary as he struggled to deal with the assault to his senses. The noise so loud that he couldn't here a simple finger snap. Talonflame flew around until he noticed the world around him getting much darker, he looked up and flapped his wings, flying upwards into the sky. After his ascent the noises around Gyarados began to die down making him calm down and focus on his surroundings. He noticed he was all alone, and cloaked in a dark shadow. Looking up, his face widened in shock seeing a large number of boulders forming over his head.

In the distance Robin smiled beside her Tyrantrum. "Gotcha. **Tyrantrum use Rock Slide!** "

" **GRRAWRR!** " Tyrantrum roared into the sky, making the rock's fall to the ground.

Gyarados could only look up in horror, the rocks fell on top of him, forcing him to the ground. Each boulder crushing his body over and over, burying him in a pile of rubble and dust, creating a crunching explosion of dirt. When the attack subsided and the dust cleared, Gyarados was seen with spiralled eyes, knocked out and defeated.

Jaune sighed in relief, putting away his weapons. "It's over… finally…"

Kai raised his arm out to let Talonflame perch on it, while Noivern flew to Kai's side.

"It's over already. That was easy." Noivern stated.

"Honestly that strategy was pointless, I could have finished that overgrown fish myself." Talonflame scoffed.

"Take it easy Talonflame, a win's a win. Besides, something tells me it was better we let Robin have this one." Kai explained.

Robin exhaled walking towards the defeated Gyarados. "It took me a while but I think I figured out, why you didn't go down easy. You were just like me; scared, confused and fighting for survival. It's almost a shame that my team is fully occupied, had I met you years ago, you might have fit in." Robin turned to her Tyrantrum. "And as for you, while I understand Gyarados was stubborn I still expected you to win on your own. You are my heaviest hitter."

Tyrantrum gave a low, gravelly growl in response, bending down and showing Robin her teeth.

"Um… I don't think you should give him criticism right now." Jaune awkwardly suggested.

"How I handle my Pokémon is none of your concern." Robin replied.

Tyrantrum growled again, making Noivern cover himself up in his wings. Talonflame stared at Tyrantrum spreading his wings defensively. Tyrantrum opened his mouth and Robin frowned.

"Don't you do it Tyrantrum! Don't you dare-!"

But it was too late, Tyrantrum had already opened his jaw wide above Robin and… affectionately licked her entire body, dragging her off the ground. Tyrantrum's tongue licked the top of her head, making her fall back on her feet, covered head to toe in prehistoric drool, with a grumpy expression on her face.

"… We've talked. About. The licking." Robin deadpanned, brushing some of the saliva off her hair.

Tyrantrum huffed and puffed with his tongue sticking out, before sitting down on his hind legs, looking at Robin with innocent eyes.

"He's acting like a dog…?" Jaune slowly realised.

Noivern uncurled his wings. "He's scary on the outside but nice on the inside. He's just like me."

"Minus the drooling." Kai added.

' _Thankfully…'_ Kai thought, shuddering at the thought of him being in Robin's position. His neat freak mentality going haywire at the imaginary sensation of warm, sticky gloop entering every crevasse in his body.

Talonflame stared into Kai's eyes, seeing him frozen in his own horrific thoughts. "Of course, the only dragon types we've got aren't intimidating beasts. Why would they be?"

Robin turned toward the two Huntsman in training with a stern glare. "Before you ask; yes. In battle Tyrantrum is as ferocious as they come, but outside of it-" Robin stared at Tyrantrum happily wagging his tail, waiting for another command. His attitude being no different than an excited puppy dog. "He's this." Robin explained wiping some of the saliva off herself.

"You still have a bit…" Jaune gestured Robin's entire frame. "Everywhere."

Robin's ignored Jaune, instead turning to Tyrantrum with his Pokéball out. "I expect better from you next time." Tyrantrum looked at Robin with puppy dog eyes before he was returned to his capsule. She turned back to the others. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have someone to interrogate. Hopefully I can get him to talk before-"

 _CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!_

A string of claps interrupted Robin, and the five turned to see a scientist in red nearby applauding.

"My, my, that was quite the display. Mable already informed me of your battle prowess but words could not do justice to what I have witnessed. And to you Kai Emblem, a spectacular show as always." Xerosic applauded.

"Xerosic!" Kai hissed.

On his shoulder Talonflame raised his wings aggressively. "Let me at him Kai! Let me at HIM!"

"Another Team Flare scientist?" Robin rhetorically asked.

"Oh, I am much more than that my dear. Not only am I the head scientist of Team Flare, but the man responsible for its revival and more recently, the head of the White Fang Vale branch. It is quite the repertoire of titles indeed." Xerosic explained.

"The one in charge of it's revival… Does that mean that you're the new leader of Team Flare?!"

"No, Lysandre is and always will be the true leader of Team Flare. No, it would be more accurate to say that I am the head of _Neo_ Team Flare."

"Isn't that the same thing though?" Noivern asked.

"Hmph! A Pokémon like you wouldn't understand, such a difference."

"Well that's not very nice."

Robin suddenly stepped forward enlarging a Pokéball in her hand. "I don't care what you're called! All I know is that you're the reason I'm stuck here! And once I've beaten you, I'll finally be able to leave this world!"

Kai stepped forward with a serious look. "I believe she means when _we_ beat you. You shouldn't have picked a fight with us Xerosic."

"Which is precisely why I haven't come to fight you. While my main purpose was to retrieve the Lieutenant, I was made aware that you have something of our property." Xerosic pulled out a Pokéball, shooting a beam out of it that returned the Gyarados. "I believe that you Robin Navy; have a Watchog belonging to Team Flare."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Robin argued.

"There's no use lying about it, all of our Pokeball's have built in tracking chips that allow us to locate and assign each Pokémon to each grunt. When I arrived, my tracker picked up on the Watchog in your possession, I require it back."

Robin remained calm and silent, glaring at Xerosic. "What's it matter to you. It's just a Watchog, I'm sure you have more where this one came from."

"True. But you see I'm afraid that our organisation is currently in a fragile state, and we cannot afford to let even a trace of us be found out. Even a Watchog."

Kai calmly stared at Xerosic. "I suppose that makes sense, not only does the tracker and the Pokémon incriminate you, but could potentially be used against you for information. Still it's pretty dumb telling us just how vital it all is, especially since you've got nothing to bargain with."

Xerosic held his gloved hand over his mouth to muffle his chuckling. "Oh, but I do Kai Emblem. Malamar, if you would."

Xerosic waved his hand gesturing his Malamar to float into view using his psychic powers, along with both the kidnapped Ex-White Fang member and his son, both asleep and both trapped in psychic energy.

"Who are they?" Noivern asked.

"They're both hostages we tried to save from the White Fang." Jaune answered, looking at Robin. "I though you said they escaped."

"They did, they should have been able to get far away from here!" Robin argued.

Xerosic took a step forward. "Perhaps under certain circumstances they would but did you forget, these two come from a White Fang associated household, i.e. they are rather distrusting of humans so I doubt they would happily trust your little escape plan. Not to mention with all ruckus from that rampaging Gyarados, I doubt they wanted to risk getting caught in the crossfire, so they didn't make it to far before _he_ found them."

Xerosic gestured his hand again revealing another of his Pokémon. This one was a purple, bat-like Pokémon with a small, round body. It has long, pointed ears, yellow eyes with red pupils, and a small mouth that usually has its teeth bared. On its body are two pairs of wings: an upper pair that is slightly larger and a lower pair that developed from its legs. Both pairs have green-blue membranes, but the lower pair's membranes are only visible from the back. The upper wings have two claw-like fingers near the middle. On the bottom of its body are what appear to be a pair of stubby feet or tufts of fur.

"A Crobat. Not only could it see inside the tunnels, but with its aerial view and speed, they wouldn't have stood a chance outside them either." Robin clenched her fists in frustration.

"Now then, let's get down to business. Hand me the Watchog and I'll let them go. Simple enough really, so…" Xerosic adjusted his glasses. "What's it going to be."

The two sides were stuck in a stalemate, neither one making any sudden moves. Robin tightly gripped the Pokéball in her hand, her frustration rising. The man who was responsible for everything bad happening to her in the last few weeks was right in front of her, and she couldn't do a thing to him.

At her side Kai look downwards with a frustrated glare. "Damnit… This is just like last time. All my training, all my work, it was all pointless… I can't do a single thing…"

Talonflame and Noivern looked to their trainer with concerned looks, then at Xerosic with angered ones.

"Guys…" Jaune took a step forward, getting the four off-worlders attention. "I can't even begin to imagine what you're all feeling but… we're not just gonna let innocent people get harmed just to give you a chance at getting home… are we?"

The four looked at each other then at Jaune.

"No." Robin put her Pokéball away, then bringing out the Watchog's Pokéball. "We're not."

Kai turned to Xerosic. "We've only got one Pokémon, but you have two hostages. Show us a sign of good faith and let one go, then we'll give you the Pokémon."

Xerosic stroked his thin pointy goatee. "Very well. Malamar, let the father go."

Malamar nodded sending the faunus man in between the two parties and freeing him from the psychic energy.

Xerosic remained silent, waiting for his end of the deal. Kai silently looked at his Pokémon the three sharing a nod of reassurance, to step in if something went wrong. Robin glared down at the Pokéball in her hand, staring at the reflection of her face in its red half. She sighed and pulled her arm back, grunting as she threw the ball at Xerosic who casually caught it in his hand.

"There, now let the boy go." Robin stated.

Xerosic remained silent, staring at the group. "… Very well. As I said I have no use for him. Malamar."

Malamar sent the boy towards his father and dropped him to the ground, next to him. Both asleep, both unharmed.

Xerosic reached into his suit's inside pocket pulling out an orange remote similar to the one Mable had. "I hope that you two remember what I said before; about how I cannot afford to let even a trace of us be found out. Kai Emblem, Robin Navy. The next time I come face to face with one of you, it shall be for the last time." Xerosic turned away creating a white portal which he stepped through. "Until then, Au Revoir."

The light from the portal vanished, and Xerosic was gone. No trace was left that could imply him or Neo Team Flare with what happened today, all except the two trainers and their Pokémon left in despair.

"Excuse me for a moment." Robin slowly walked off, wanting to be alone.

Kai didn't even attempt to stop her, if he was being honest, he could use some alone time himself. He pulled out Talonflame and Noivern's Pokéballs. "Thank you for your help today, you two. Return."

The two Pokémon shared a disappointed look before returning to their capsules, which Kai put away on his belt.

Jaune looked at Kai then at Robin walking away. "Look Kai I…"

"Jaune it's okay, you don't need to do anything." Kai interrupted.

"Okay but, what about her?" Jaune pointed to Robin.

"Honestly I'm not sure, I don't really know her that well enough to say, but it couldn't hurt to try."

Jaune looked away at Robin, before going after him. Kai looked away instead focusing on all the destruction around him.

"If only I had read that message when I first got it instead of fighting Coco…" Kai murmured. Kai's focus shifted towards the sleeping father and son and he smiled, before losing it. "At… at least they're safe."

The oncoming sound of whirring sirens stole Kai's attention, suddenly arriving in the area were a squad of police cars. The police officers stopped their cars and exited their vehicles spreading out into the surrounding area.

"Over there!" One of the officers shouted, bringing a team around Kai and the sleeping faunus, bringing out their weapons. "Raise your hands behind your head and clasp your fingers!"

Kai awkwardly blinked, then double checked his surroundings. "Ah. I see the issue. Officer look I just happened to be in the-"

"Take one step forward and we'll be forced to use our weapons!"

Kai stopped in place and raised his hands. "Thank you, universe. You really know how to put salt into the wound."

* * *

Elsewhere, away from the police lights and patrolling officers Robin was sitting down on the ground, in deep thought. She didn't even care about the fact her day of familiarising the city became an improv hostage rescue situation. Or the fact she had to deal with an extremist group. Or the fact she was covered in saliva. Her mind was completely focused on what had just transpired less than two minutes ago, how she once again failed and let a chance of getting home escape from her.

A series of footsteps on the concrete were audibly heard behind her, but Robin remained stationary and still. The footsteps stopped next to her, and for a moment there was silence, until Jaune Arc sat down next to her.

"So, this has been quite the day huh?" He joked.

"… Just leave me alone Jaune." Robin quietly responded.

"I get it you're frustrated-"

"Frustrated doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling!" Robin shouted.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jaune asked.

"You wouldn't understand." Robin answered.

"Then help me to, please."

Robin stayed quiet. "…I came out today to plan. To learn. To keep myself safe. But then I was given an opportunity to get information. Then the way back home was literally right in front of me. For the second time." Robin's arms began to shake. "I was given a second chance and it's made me realise; I might not ever get back, and that thought scares me. I've spent years trying to achieve one goal only to fail time and time again, I keep thinking that I'm getting better only to get reminded how weak and pathetic I am. I can't win against any _real_ opponents, I only end up endangering my Pokémon when I'm supposed to look after them, and all I can do is lose. I'm tired of losing… not that you'd understand something like that."

Jaune put his gloved hand on Robin's drool covered shoulder. "I do understand. Failure… for the longest time it was the only thing I was ever good at." Robin's arms stopped shaking and Jaune removed his hand. "My family has been nothing but great heroes for generations, people who would go out into the world as knight's in shining armour to save damsels in distress. My father and grandfather would tell me their stories as a kid when I was growing up, they inspired me to be like them. But… I was never any good. The years went on and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't cut it, it was humiliating. Not even my parents believed in me, they were so used to me failing. Everyone told me to give up on my dream of becoming a Huntsman, of becoming a hero."

"But you did become a Huntsman. You joined the academy." Robin interrupted.

"Well I didn't exactly earn my way in." Jaune admitted. "And even when I got accepted, all I did was waltz around getting jealous of everyone else. I was jealous of my teammates, my friends, even Kai. I… I was nothing. Even when I was offered help, offered a chance to get better I turned it down because of my pride and that just led to even more problems. It was only when I accepted my flaws and realised how selfish I was, that I finally started to get better. I realised it wasn't about being a great hero like my family but-"

"Being a good one." Robin finished off.

"Yeah, exactly."

Jaune and Robin both stared out towards the water neither of them saying a word.

"As strange as this is to admit, today has probably been one of the best I've ever had since coming to this world." Robin admitted. "A horrible date though."

"So, you admit it was a date!" Jaune beamed proudly. "In that case would you mind if we went on another-"

"No. Never… ever… again…" Robin shut down immediately. "But I wouldn't mind talking again, you are actually nice company when you're not trying to constantly get with me."

"Yeah, if I'm gonna be honest I could tell it wasn't gonna work out, I was just trying to get over another girl." Jaune confessed.

"She broke up with you?"

"More like I tried wooing her the same way I tried to woo you, she never really gave me a chance."

Robin looked at Jaune. "Why is finding someone to date so important to you?"

"Well it kind of goes back to my family again. Turns out my dad actually met my mom in Huntsman training, same with my grandfather and grandma. It felt like finding someone was just another part of following their footsteps. That and having someone to love and having someone to love you back… it just sounds nice." Jaune looked at Robin. "I know it's selfish and dumb and I should probably give up, right."

"Not to me. If finding love is just as important to you as becoming a Huntsman then you should go for it. Just don't try as hard, women don't like men who are really desperate." Robin got to her feet. "And Jaune… thanks. I needed that talk."

"No problem um... um..." Jaune awkwardly scratched his head. "I don't think you ever actually told me your name."

"Oh, sorry. It's Robin, Robin Navy."

"Well it's nice to meet you Robin." Jaune got up. "Still after everything that's happened, at least today can't get any worse."

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!"

Jaune and Robin looked behind them to see a pair of police officers with their weapons aimed at the two.

Robin gave Jaune a judgemental look. "On the other hand, maybe you should learn to talk less."

"You're probably right. After all women do like the strong silent type." Jaune bragged making Robin give him a judgemental look. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Women do like people who can make them laugh." Robin just looked away. "Yeah I should probably start trying to be quiet."

"You do that." Robin deadpanned.

* * *

 **So first and foremost, I am so sorry for the delay. I was on holiday for one week, and the other was just as a result of me just having a lot left to write.**

 **Still given how this is now the longest chapter of the story, I think that is worth the wait. Honestly I am very surprised by the length, but I did get a lot done here such as: giving Jaune a bit more backstory, motivation and then he gets in the cannon, having another encounter with Xerosic, and notably the main purpose of giving Robin another little mini-arc, revealing her sixth and final Pokémon; Tyrantrum.**

 **This is also a good opportunity to explain how I came up with Robin's team. You see Kai's team was created from a fun playthrough of Pokémon X I had done recently at the time of conceptualising the story. Robin's came about as the opposite. I checked an online team maker, saw what Pokémon I wanted to give her and then played a run of X to help me better understand the Pokémon, and that run was really fun! It even had me use Pokémon in a playthrough for the first time (i.e. Chesnaught, Tyrantrum and Beartic).**

 **And with that this arc comes to a close, and due to the time it took to write these chapters, I'm going to take a break from these uploads. Mainly to build up more chapters so that hopefully I won't leave you in suspense in the future.**

 **So until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	41. Chapter 38: The tale of better times

**-Morning, Beacon Academy-**

"All right you can look."

Kai slowly took his hands off his eyes and turned around, seeing Robin dressed in Atlas' school uniform.

Robin wore a white long-sleeved shirt with a grey pocket-vest jacket on top. These were accompanied by a pair of white dress gloves and a dark-grey tie as well as grey stockings and knee-high black boots. The only real splash of colour on her being her red Pokéball pouch that she clipped onto a grey belt around her waist.

Kai scanned Robin's attire. "Hm. Not very colourful, but it does come together nicely."

"I think this might be the longest you've ever stared at me." Robin pointed out.

"Well I have a thing for neatness, speaking of would you mind if I asked you to help with my tie?" Kai awkwardly gestured at his sloping tie as part of Beacon's uniform.

Robin rolled her eyes. "Hold still." Robin walked up to Kai and undid his tie before putting it on properly.

Kai gulped. "Is it meant to feel this tight?"

Robin pulled the tie upwards making Kai cough. "Yes. Yes, it should." Robin turned away and began tugging at her sleeves.

"Are you okay, you seem to be fidgeting?" Kai asked, rubbing his neck.

"It's nothing to be concerned about. I just don't like the feel of sleeves, they're just so… clingy and restricting."

"And yet you're fine with getting strangled by a tie." Robin shot Kai a look, making him awkwardly look away. "I mean, why don't we see if any of our lessons match up on our timetables."

Robin looked away trying to find her timetable, pacing around the room to check Kai's desk. "Did you move my things again?"

"They were all over the place, if I didn't move them we would have walked all over them." Kai explained.

"Well do you at least know where you put it?"

"Yeah, I think I put it…" Kai paused putting his head on his chin, thinking. "Um… give me a minute…"

Robin scowled at Kai until she felt a soft pat on her leg. She looked down seeing Slurpuff looking up at her with her timetable in her stubby paws.

"Your parfume." Slurpuff lifted the timetable up to Robin.

"…thanks…" Robin hesitantly took the timetable.

 _'_ _Still weird…'_ Robin thought, referring to Slurpuff speaking.

Kai walked over to Robin and the two compared their lessons. "Right, it doesn't look like we have a lot of lessons together, or even study periods that we can meet up. I guess that makes sense since you're enrolled in a different academy."

"I guess we'll have to meet up during break if we're going to finally start this Pokémon communication training." Robin looked at Kai. "That all right with you?"

"Sure, I don't have any plans." Kai answered, putting his timetable away in his yellow rucksack.

Robin put her timetable away in her satchel and hung it over her shoulder walking to the door. "Well then, I guess I'll see you then."

Robin opened the door to the room only for Ironwood to be standing in the hall.

"May I come in?" Ironwood politely asked.

"Metal parfume?" Slurpuff sniffed.

"Ironwood? What are you doing here?" Kai asked.

"I won't be long; I just wanted a minute to speak with Miss Navy in private." Ironwood explained.

"Can I ask why?" Robin cautiously questioned.

"I just wanted to welcome my new student on their first day. As well as making sure they know what standards are to be expected." Ironwood answered.

Ironwood's cold, steel gaze made the room silent and cautious, until Kai eventually stepped forward.

"Well I'll just leave you two alone then. If you just… excuse me…" Kai awkwardly made his was around Ironwood, heading down the corridor.

Robin walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, her look not escaping Ironwood's. "So, what is this really about?"

Ironwood calmly remained quiet, not denying anything. "…I have been made aware of what transpired yesterday."

"…" Robin stayed quiet, her mind trailing back to the events of that day. Jaune awkwardly asking her out, rescuing a hostage, fighting the White Fang, a rampaging Gyarados, Xerosic's appearance, the police taking her Jaune and Kai into custody, and then…

* * *

 _A riding crop slapped against the metal table, creating a cracking sound that made Jaune and Kai flinch. Robin on the other hand seemed relatively unfazed, a neutral expression plastered on her face._

 _"_ _What were you three thinking?" Goodwitch reprimanded. "Refusing to go to your lesson, or leaving them early. Knowingly going after a dangerous extremist organisation. Keeping vital information to yourselves."_

 _"_ _Actually, I did call the police." Jaune corrected._

 _"_ _Not like they did anything though." Robin added._

 _Goodwitch slapped her riding crop on the table again cutting the two off. "I don't want to hear it. What you three did was quite frankly, unacceptable."_

 _"_ _But what about those two people we saved. If we didn't step in when we did, who knows what might have happened to them." Jaune explained._

 _"_ _Be that as it may, you shouldn't have engaged. Furthermore, you Mr Arc, shouldn't have been in the city in the first place. I was wondering why it was you were absent from my sparring session today, you're lucky that Professor Ozpin is in charge of your punishment. Or else I would suspend you and Mr Emblem this instant!"_

 _Jaune gulped and Kai looked away slightly tipping his fedora over his head to hide his face._

 _"_ _And what about me?" Robin asked._

 _Goodwitch turned her attention to the new trainer. "Under normal circumstances Professor Ozpin would be responsible for you as well, however since you have been enrolled into Atlas academy and since he is currently staying with us. General Ironwood will be responsible for your consequences."_

* * *

Back in the present Robin looked back at Ironwood. "So, what are you going to do?"

Ironwood calmly put his hands behind his back. "Since you were currently not on the register until this morning, and assuming that you were brought into that event by unfortunate circumstances and chance… I think a verbal warning is a suitable enough punishment."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

"Don't get the wrong impression." Ironwood took a step closer, looming over Robin. "After reading the official report of what happened, and seeing the aftermath for myself I can assure you that this is the only time I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your actions were reckless, unjustified and highly dangerous. Not to mention the amount of collateral damage caused and the fact that both the White Fang and Team Flare escaped." Ironwood shook his head. "Results like these are unacceptable by Atlas standards, if your performance doesn't improve soon then I'm afraid the time you'll be enlisted in my academy will be much shorter then we would have hoped. Do I make myself clear?"

"…Crystal." Robin answered.

"Good, I'm glad we understand each other." Ironwood began to walk off down the hall. "I won't keep you waiting, after all I we wouldn't want you late for class on your first day, now would we."

Robin didn't respond, she just stared at Ironwood walking out of her dorm before heading opposite of Ironwood, checking where she had to be first.

* * *

Elsewhere in the eastern section of the dorm's, a group of four walked out of their room. The four were all boys that looked like they were either seventeen or eighteen and all were wearing the male Atlas school uniform.

One of them stood in front of his peers and had neat blue hair and blue tinted sunglasses hiding his natural green eyes. He appeared to be the leader of the team and had a certain amount of swagger and class in his step.

Behind him the other three were lined up neatly and uniformly. One who had a muscular build, tan skin and short blonde hair. The second had mid-length dark green hair and green eyes, and the third was short statured with green eyes and a buzz-cut.

The blue haired leader pulled down his left sleeve to look at an electronic watch on his wrist. "Come along everyone. We only have ten minutes until our first period begins, our first class is history with a Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck."

"Yeah, we know Riley. You've already told us a thousand times this morning, along with every other class we have." The short statured boy stated.

"Firstly, I only told you all today's timetable schedule _five_ times this morning, not that ludicrous thousand times you suggested. And secondly, I shouldn't have to keep telling you this but unfortunately for me, I've been cursed to lead a team whose members have a combined attention span of gnat." Riley commented.

Riley and his team turned the corner walking towards a set of stairs. From the corner of his eye he noticed Robin coming towards them, making him turn and narrow them at her. The other members of his team all stared ahead of him at Robin, looking at her uniform.

"That uniform… Is she from Atlas academy too?" The muscular blonde-haired boy asked.

"Then why is she coming from the west side?" The green haired boy asked.

"Do you recognise her? Because I don't." The short statured one commented.

Riley glanced at Robin, not saying a word. Similarly, as Robin approached the team she slowed down, getting cautious of them not moving. Riley adjusted his sunglasses, making light shine off them, the glare hiding his eyes completely.

"What are you doing standing around here? We're going to be late if we keep idly wasting time like this." Riley complained, walking away to the steps.

"You mean to tell me you weren't checking that girl out?" The short statured one whispered.

"We're Huntsman in training, we have no time for gawking at ladies." Riley chided.

"I didn't mean it like that… well kind of but-" The short statured boy groaned. "Never mind."

The team started going down the stairs leaving Robin alone in the corridor. She paused briefly to consider if they had realised that she wasn't from Atlas, but quickly brushed the thought off, heading down the stairs.

* * *

The minutes passed until Robin entered Doctor Oobleck's amphitheatre. Unlike Kai's lessons that were primarily filled with students from Beacon and Haven academy, Robin's lessons appeared to have students from Atlas and Shade academy. Robin found an isolated place to take a seat, unaware that she was being observed from above by a certain blonde haired Faunus.

"Huh? That's weird." Sun commented, looking down at Robin.

"Um, dude what are you talking about?" Neptune asked, looking at him.

"This probably sounds weird but I don't recognise that girl down there."

"Who?" Sun pointed down at Robin, making Neptune scrunch up his face. "Maybe? I don't know, what do you guys think?" Neptune looked along to the two teenage boys next to him.

The first had red hair that came down over his right eye, with a complete undercut, with his left eye having several red markings around it. Unlike the conventional uniform, he like Sun and Neptune wore his own clothes that consisted of. A green, mulberry, navy colour feather earring on his left ear and has a red military pelisse-like jacket draped over the left side. He also wears a grey bandanna around his neck. On his right hand, he wears a fingerless glove, and on his right bicep, he has a grey band. He wears a white sleeveless shirt and light grey pants. He also wears a pair of long, brown, laced boots. Around his waist, he wore a brown belt and a slightly slanted grey belt.

The second had dark skin and yellow eyes. His hair was sage green, and he appears to have tattoos of wings on his chest and tattoos of Roman numerals, around his neck. He wore a white long coat with asymmetrical sleeves, a green wing design similar to his tattoos and no shirt underneath, displaying his tattooed chest. His jacket also has a golden pauldron on his right shoulder and a golden cuff around his left wrist. He also wears a pair of dark pants fastened by a white belt with a yellow buckle.

"Maybe you're just confused. All the transfer students have only been here for less than a week, us included. Well us barring Sun." The scarlet haired boy answered.

The sage haired boy nodded in agreement.

"Well I'm the leader, and as the leader I say that she's not been here before. There's just something about her that seems… different."

"Different how?" Neptune asked.

"I don't know, just different." Sun looked down at Robin unpacking her things.

And he wasn't the only one. Further away in a different set of seats, Riley was looking down on Robin pushing his sunglasses to keep them on his face.

 _'_ _That girl, she bears Atlas' uniform and yet… I have no recollection of seeing her at the beginning of the year. Not at initiation, not in classes, not on the transfer here, so why is she only here now, and why is she not sitting with her team?'_ Riley glared at Robin, seeing her place items out of her satchel on her desk, before picking at her sleeves yet again. _'Something's not right with her…'_

"Um Riley, what are you doing?" The short statured teammate asked.

"Nothing you should be concerned with. Just thinking about a puzzle." Riley answered.

A sudden white and green blur rushed into the room making a gust of wind and papers fly throughout the air. It stopped in front of the desk where Oobleck materialised, taking a drink of coffee from his mug.

"Alright students, please take your seats if you haven't already." Oobleck took another sip of his mug. "Please turn to page one-hundred thirty four in your textbooks and we'll continue from where we left off last time."

Oobleck rushed to the blackboard behind him and began scribbling frantically with a piece of chalk creating a large white dust cloud to form around him.

At her seat Robin brought out her textbook, opening it to the correct page. She stared at the information and diagrams in concern, the pictures and words describing information that she either never heard of or knew very little about.

 _'_ _The fact that both our worlds have the same language and alphabet may be an impossible coincidence, but right now I can't make heads or tails of any of this.'_ Robin thought, giving a sigh. _'Maybe he'll go slow enough for me to catch up.'_

Robin looked up out of her book seeing that in the time it took for her to get it out and skim through it, Oobleck had already written a number of paragraph's and some accompanying drawings on the blackboard, all of which were somehow linked to the many pieces of paper scattered around the room linked by red string.

"Last time we had learnt about the series of events and motivations that led to Vacuo aligning itself with Vale in the great war. Vacuo ended up being perhaps the most important territory in the war due to its plentiful Dust mines, its harsh battlefields and how at one-point the kingdom had connections to the other three kingdoms." Oobleck rushed over to one of his diagrams. "After years of devastating conflict and the increasing number of Grimm attacks Vacuo became home to the deadliest and final battle in the war. In a desperate move by Mantle and Mistral, the two kingdoms attempted to take control of Vacuo's Dust mines to cut off Vale and Vacuo's supply. It was here that Vale and Vacuo fought a defensive battle to protect the mines with Vale's warrior king leading his forces personally and apparently taking out countless enemy soldiers on his own, which led to his victory. However, most historians these days have an alternative theory that would explain the outcome of the battle. Does anyone here know what that might be? Anyone?"

Several hands went up to answer and Oobleck scanned the room looking for someone to answer. Taking a sip from his mug before blurring in front of Robin. "How about you Miss Navy?"

Robin's eyes widened in surprise before adjusting herself. "I… I don't know."

"I see…" Oobleck zoomed back down to the front of the lecture hall. "All right how about you Mr Teal."

Riley smirked adjusting his glasses. "The cause of Mantle and Mistral's defeat was most likely due to their forces inexperience in Vacuo's desert combat and from unusually violent weather conditions. Obviously."

Oobleck nodded. "Very good Mr Teal, and as for you Miss Navy." Oobleck rushed over to Robin's seat. "I hope that next time you are better prepared, because as we have seen Atlas' education system is not a valid excuse."

Oobleck dashed to another section of the room carrying on his fast-paced lecture, forcing the class to keep up. Robin clenched her fist looking at her book.

 _'_ _Of course, it was environmental effects and experience in the terrain. It's just like weather effects and Route specific Pokémon. I should have been able to guess that.'_ Robin thought, mentally kicking herself.

From above Riley was looking down at Robin before looking back towards Oobleck. Elsewhere in the room Sun was looking at Robin with an intrigued look on his face, his tail reaching up and scratching the back of his head.

* * *

Time passed and Oobleck's lesson came to an end. The bell rung in the background of students minds as they made their way out of the doctor's lecture theatre. Robin was impatiently walking along the corridor making her way to the next room, picking at her sleeves.

As she was moving a spiky blonde tail tapped her on the right shoulder. She stopped in place and turned her head over her shoulder only for the tail to move out of her field of vision and tap her other shoulder. She turned her head to her other shoulder only for the tail to disappear out of view. Robin looked behind her with an annoyed look on her face, while Sun sleekly took a step behind her.

"Sup. Name's Sun." Sun greeted.

Robin turned back around, flinching in surprise. "Where did you-?" Robin shook her head. "Forget it."

Robin tried to step around Sun only for him to quickly step back in her way. "I don't think I've seen you around. And not just because you're from Atlas, cause I've been here a while longer than some other transfer students and I don't recognise you like, at all."

Robin stepped away managing to walk away from Sun, picking up her pace. "Probably because we don't know each other."

Sun caught up walking side by side with her. "Plus, something about you seems… different."

Robin began to slow down. "Different how?"

Sun shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me. Either way I was in your class just now. You really sucked at answering that question."

Robin started picking up the pace. "I really need to get to my next class."

"Hey relax I suck at answering questions to and I was thinking, we had first period together so we probably have second together too. Wanna go together or-?" Robin stepped through a group of students her way leaving Sun to get dragged behind. "…not. Geez and here I thought Blake was antisocial."

 _'_ _Why is everyone so nosy in this world?'_ Robin thought to herself as she carried on ahead, recounting the many instances of strangers trying to get information out of her one way or another.

* * *

"Lancer's are particularly territorial Grimm. If you find one Lancer you can bet that the rest of the swarm will be right behind it. That actually reminds me of a story from my youth where once I accidently stumbled into a Lancer nest and I blah. Blah blah blah blah blah-"

Robin was struggling to keep her attention as she sat in Professor Port's Grimm studies lecture. Currently he was gesturing to a diagram of an insectoid Grimm that made Robin compare it to her own Beedrill.

 _'_ _Just get to the point already…'_ Robin thought, holding back a yawn.

"Blah blah blah and let's just say I couldn't sit down for a week." Port cleared his throat. "Now then can anyone tell me what the most effective way of taking down a Lancer is?" Port looked around the room, seeing various students raise their hands. "Let's see how about… you Miss Navy."

Robin looked up in slight surprise. "But I didn't-" Robin paused seeing Port wasn't going to let this go.

 _'_ _Okay Robin think. Pretend these Lancer's are Bug types, how would you deal with it?'_ Robin thought, coming up with a good estimated guess.

"I suppose the best course of action would be a fast aerial attack. Preferably a powerful dense blow, or something fast and destructive like fire Dust." Robin reasoned.

"Hmm… that is exactly the _opposite_ of what you should be doing." Port stated making Robin look at him in confusion. "Lancer's possess aerial manoeuvrability and agility unrivalled by most other Grimm. Being able to outpace even the most advanced airships currently at our disposal. Assuming you were even at a height where an aerial assault was possible, attempting it would most likely result in failure and your untimely death." Port looked to the rest of the class. "How about you Mr Teal."

Robin looked up seeing Riley. _'Didn't he answer after me last time as well?'_

"I believe the correct way to deal with a Lancer is to ground them. You should wait until they are relatively low to the ground and then neutralise their flying capabilities. There are many potential ways to do this but I would personally suggest water or ice Dust to dampen or freeze their wings. Of course, that's just my interpretation I'm sure that at least _most_ of us would be able to figure out a safe alternative that wouldn't get you killed." Riley harshly answered.

"Very good Mr Teal. Now then, where was I? Oh I remember, blah blah blah blah…"

Robin glared at Riley before looking back down at her desk, clenching her fist.

* * *

The lesson ended and Riley was walking out of the lecture theatre with his team behind him.

"Hey! What was that all about?" Riley and his team turned their heads seeing Robin walk up to them.

"Hey it's that girl from this morning. The one that couldn't answer those simple questions." The green haired member stated. Robin leered at him, making him back away slowly.

"I don't know what you mean." Riley confessed.

Robin glared at him. "' _Obviously._ ' ' _Most of us._ ' Your choice of language has made it clear that you've got a problem with me and I want to know why."

Riley didn't immediately respond, instead he adjusted his glasses by pushing them further up his face. "Tell me Miss Navy, that's what they called you isn't it?" Riley took a step towards Robin. "How come you bear Atlas academy's uniform despite not attending the first semester? And why do you not sit with a team?"

Robin kept a neutral expression. "That's none of your business.."

"I make it my business." Riley took another step closer, looking down on Robin. "I may not know how you got to wear that uniform. Money? Influence? A rare skill? None of that concerns me. What concerns me is that your knowledge is pitiful, your arrival is questionable, and assuming you just arrived the treatment you've received is unjustified. Take now for instance, someone doesn't like you and instead of letting it go you call them out accusingly like a pouting child. Atlas has standards, standards that you are not even close to achieving. You want to know why I don't like you… because you're a disgrace to everything that uniform represents. You don't belong here." Riley walked off with his team awkwardly following him.

"Hey! We're not done here!" Robin yelled.

Riley just ignored her; in his eyes she wasn't even worth responding to. Robin just gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, storming off.

* * *

Robin was standing on the Main Avenue, letting the feel of the Summer breeze brush past her face. Her eyes were closed as she was taking in the quiet atmosphere, taking small breaths in and out.

 _'_ _You don't belong here.'_ Riley's words were going through her head on a loop.

 _'_ _Of course, I don't belong here. But here I am anyway, expected to know everything about a world that I have only just arrived in, a world that has beaten me into the ground and tried to kill me at every turn! Not that anyone would understand!'_

"There you are."

"Are you feeling alright Miss Navy?"

The sounds of two voices made Robin open her eyes and looked behind her. Standing there were Kai and his Lucario staring back at her.

"Kai? Why are you out here?" Robin asked.

"This morning, you and I were gonna meet up back at the room. But since you never showed up-" Kai begun to answer.

Robin finally remembered mentally facepalming. "Right! We were meant to start teaching my Pokémon human communication."

Robin looked away, which Lucario picked up on. "I was able to locate you by locating your aura. You seem emotionally drained and stressed."

Robin looked towards Lucario. "So, one of your Pokémon is a Lucario. I assume his aura manipulation was what help you bridge the gap between you and your Pokémon."

"It was, but right now you are trying to change the subject." Lucario pointed out. "Would you like to talk?"

Robin scoffed. "You wouldn't understand."

"Perhaps, but my Master might." Lucario begun to say. "Your current emotional state feels very similar to his on his first day here."

"It is?" Kai asked, looking at Robin. "If you want, we could do this at another time."

Robin looked to Kai. "No, let's do it now. The sooner I can get my Pokémon to talk, the sooner they improve and the closer I will get to beating the champion."

"All right, if you say so. Before we begin are any of your Pokémon Psychic type, or do any of them have some form of communication abilities like my Lucario?" Kai asked.

"No. None of them."

"Right. Well in that case we should probably start with your Chesnaught. He was your starter Pokémon, right?"

Lucario felt Robin's confusion and walked towards her. "We recommend your Chesnaught because he has been with you the longest, as such you two may share the strongest bond out of your party."

"If you say so." Robin reached into her Pokéball pouch, bringing out Chesnaught's Pokéball. "Chesnaught come forth!"

Robin opened the capsule sending out her Chesnaught, who stretched in place, yawning loudly. He scratched himself before looking to Robin smiling. Robin showed bitterness in her expression, making him stop.

"Okay how does this work?"

Kai stepped forward. "Well this took some research and a lot of trial of error so I can't guarantee its success but I think it's a three-step process." Kai stretched out a finger. "Step one. We need to have your auras on the same wavelength." Kai stretched the next finger along. "Step two. Then we need to teach them language and communication. Reading and talking to them should help on that front and finally." Kai stretched the next finger along. "Step three. We focus on pronunciation. Once they start being able to say some actual words, they'll naturally start speaking properly after that."

"Alright. So how do our auras become synchronised?" Robin asked.

"In simple terms we just need to get you two to 'vibe'. First let me see where your auras are currently." Lucario raised a paw and closed his eyes. "Hmm, interesting." Lucario opened his eyes. "Currently while the bond between you two is definitely strong it feels; how can I best describe this… narrow."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Robin asked looking toward her Chesnaught.

"It means that despite your bond, only small amounts of your will's are able to get through to each other."

"And how do we fix that?"

Kai put his chin on his fist. "Well we need to get the two of you on the same page somehow. We need you both to think and feel the exact same thing." Kai's eyes lit up. "I've got it. Chesnaught's your starter, right?! So, the two of you just need to think about the first day you met."

Robin began thinking back. "When we first met… that was six years ago…"

Chesnaught scratched his head. "Ches. Chesnaught. (Woah. I suddenly feel old.)"

Robin took a breath closing her eyes. "Alright let's see. It was early April…"

Chesnaught did the same as the two thought back. Kai looked at Lucario and the two shared a nod, signalling Lucario to walk up to the two and hover his paws over them as he closed his eyes.

 _'_ _Six years ago… Early April… Professor Sycamore's lab…'_

* * *

 **Six Years Ago…**

 **-Morning, Lumiose City-**

 _It was a regular morning in the Sycamore Pokémon Lab. Scientists were doing their ongoing research on what was at the time, the mystery of Mega Evolution, with Sycamore at the helm._

 _Currently three Pokémon sat asleep in incubators that were monitoring each of their medical conditions._

 _The Pokémon on the left was a small blue-green quadruped with a large green bulb on its back._

 _The middle Pokémon was an orange lizard with a cream coloured belly and a small flame burning from the tip of its tail._

 _And the Pokémon on the right was tiny light blue turtle. Not that anyone could tell as it was currently tucked inside its brown shell._

 _Staring at the three was Professor Sycamore who didn't look much different from his present-day self all things considered._

 _"_ _Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. According to my recent breakthrough, those mysterious stones we found may be related to these Pokémon. Perhaps these three have the potential to Mega Evolve." Sycamore said to himself._

 _A blonde-haired man in a white blazer and white trousers walked up to the Professor. "Professor, a new trainer has arrived to receive her starter Pokémon."_

 _Sycamore turned around in surprise. "Already. I must have lost track of time." Sycamore turned towards another set of incubators on the other side of the room containing a Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie respectively. "Prepare the starter Pokémon for presentation Dexio. I'll be down in a few minutes."_

 _Staring at the professor in anticipation was Chespin, who had a dumb look on his face._

 _Meanwhile in Sycamore's office was an 11-year-old Robin. While Robin's face and general appearance hadn't changed much, she was noticeably shorter. She also had a different set of clothes, wearing a sleeveless navy blue high-waisted shirt with an accompanying navy-blue skirt. Along with her signature satchel hanging over her shoulder and her red Pokéball pouch clipped to the side._

 _She stood in Sycamore's office patiently waiting as she tapped her foot. The sound of an elevator door opening caught her attention before Sycamore walked into the office with a mechanical, cylindrical canister in his hands._

 _"_ _I'm sorry for the wait miss." He apologised._

 _"_ _It's fine, I'm sure you had a lot of work to do." Robin politely responded._

 _"_ _Still that's no excuse, but enough about me. Today is about you." Sycamore opened the canister, exposing three Pokéballs. "May I present to you the three Pokémon that may become your partner on your journey."_

 _Sycamore opened the Pokéballs releasing Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie onto the table. Robin stared at the three, and the three looked back._

 _'_ _Hmm, which one should I pick?'_ _Robin thought._

 _From the Pokémon's view they stared up at Robin, acting on their best behaviour, with Chespin looking straight into Robin's eyes._

 _'_ _Ooo~h. Pretty human.' He thought._

 _He suddenly lost interest and looked away at one of the framed pictures of Pokémon hanging on the walls. 'Ooo~h. Pretty picture.'_

 _Chespin kept looking around the room, his attention span not long enough to keep his attention focused on one thing for too long. He began walking away while Robin was leaning over at Fennekin grooming herself._

 _"_ _Fennekin would provide good offence, but I'm looking for something a little different." Robin said to herself._

 _Chespin looked upwards not noticing that he was edging the end of the table. Taking a step into thin air, Chespin fell off the table landing head first with his legs up in the air._

 _Robin and Sycamore heard the sound of thudding, making the two look down and see Chespin lying solely on his head before the rest of his body fell down, making him lie flat on his back._

 _"_ _Chespin!" Sycamore cried out. He put his hands around him and placed him back on the table on his feet. Chespin blinked a couple of times and wiped his eyes but seemed virtually unfazed. "Phew, you need to be more careful. We've gone over this."_

 _"_ _Does this happen often?" Robin asked._

 _"_ _Yeah, ever since he hatched from his egg this Chespin has always gotten distracted easily and knocked into things. I'm lucky he seems so sturdy, otherwise I might have to keep him checked into a Pokémon centre twenty-four seven." Sycamore explained._

 _"_ _So, what you're saying is… Chespin is used to taking damage and getting back up like it was nothing." Robin summarised._

 _"_ _I suppose if you want to put it that way, then I can see that."_

 _As Sycamore was talking, Robin's eyes shifted towards Chespin who once again got distracted looking at a nearby bookshelf with a potted plant on one of the shelves. Chespin walked off the table yet again, faceplanting the floor. Chespin picked his head up and shook it before getting on two feet and walking forward. Two vines sprouted from his shoulders that reached out and wrapped themselves around the pot, bringing it in front of him. Stepping forward Chespin sniffed the flower, sighing in relief._

 _"_ _Chespin~ (Mmm~)"_

 _Chespin raised his arms, making his vines whip upwards and accidentally hitting one of the shelves breaking it apart. The books on the shelf fell on their side and begun to slide off, falling out of the bookcase and making their shadows cast over Chespin._

 _"_ _Chespin. (Uh oh.)"_

 _The books crashed on top of Chespin, burying him in a large pile of books. Sycamore turned around in a panic seeing the pile of books on top of Chespin only for Chespin to raise an arm upwards before another book slid off the shelf landing on top of Chespin, making him cry out._

 _As Sycamore rushed over to the pile, in the background Robin couldn't help but chuckle at the sight in front of her, before quickly coughing to cover it up and compose herself. Sycamore pushed the books away, allowing Chespin onto his feet, unfazed yet again_

 _"_ _Chespin! I just told you to be careful! You almost got yourself seriously injured! Again!" Sycamore lectured, making Chespin put his head down and his quills droop._

 _"_ _Professor." Robin called out, getting Sycamore's attention. "Would you mind if I went over to Chespin."_

 _Sycamore was at first confused but soon smiled. "Sure. I don't see why not."_

 _Sycamore got up allowing Robin to get closer, before kneeling to get closer to Chespin. Chespin was looking away at the time so when he turned around, he was startled, making him flail his arms and land on his back._

 _"_ _You certainly have a lot of energy don't you. I could use that in a partner Pokémon." Robin started to say, getting Chespin's attention. "Not to mention you're seem to have very good defences. Quite impressive for a little guy."_

 _For the first time in his short life Chespin was actually focused on something; Robin. Being complemented despite being clumsy, was one thing. But there was something else. Her looks? Her way of speaking? Something about her made Chespin feel… something._

 _Chespin sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Che Chespin Chespin Chespin. (Oh it was nothing really.)"_

 _Robin reached into her satchel and rummaged around, pulling out a small, round, blue berry, freshly picked off the vine. Chespin reached out with his arms and grabbed the berry, sniffing it before taking a bite with his large rounded teeth._

 _His eyes widened and began glistening as drool dripped out of his mouth. "Chespin! (So good!)"_

 _Chespin ravenously began devouring the berry, making berry juices and small bits of berry flesh, fall on the floor. When he was done Chespin posed, flexing his muscles in a cute way that made Robin smile._

 _"_ _So how about you and I make a deal? I keep giving you more berries and in exchange you become my partner. Does that sound all right with you?" Robin offered out her hand._

 _Chespin licked his lips for a moment before it finally sunk in. Chespin looked around in disbelief looking at Robin, Sycamore and the other two starters over and over again, before stopping at Robin._

 _"_ _Che… Chespin Chespin? (You… Really want me?)" Chespin's eyes grew wide becoming squigglier as if they were saturated in tears._

 _"_ _Don't be overdramatic. If we're going to do this, and we are going to do this. Then I need you to focus and get a grip over your emotions. Can you do that?"_

 _Chespin closed his eyes as streams of tears went down his face, giving Robin a military salute. "Chespin! (Aye sir!)"_

 _Robin smiled. "Good."_

 _Robin gently picked Chespin up, holding him in her arms. "Professor, I would like to choose Chespin as my starter."_

 _Sycamore nodded handing Robin his Pokéball. "Not to discourage you, but Chespin won't be the easiest Pokémon to train."_

 _Robin took the ball. "Ha! If this was going to be easy then it wouldn't be worth doing, now would it?!"_

 _Chespin rubbed his eyes and looked to the professor with a determined grin. "Ches! Chespin! (Yeah! What she said!)_

 _"_ _Fair enough." Sycamore reached out into his lab coat, bringing out a Pokédex. "This is a Pokédex. Use it to learn more about the Pokémon you find in the wild. Now go Robin Navy! The world of Pokémon is just waiting for you to explore it!"_

 _Robin looked down at Chespin. Chespin looked up at Robin. The two showed each other determined looks, ready to face the world. Together._

* * *

Lucario lowered his paws away from the trainer and Pokémon, giving them space. The two looked at each other in silence, for a brief moment: Robin knew exactly how Chesnaught felt and for Chesnaught he knew how Robin felt. Their desires, their curiosity, their will, it was one.

Robin placed her hand over her heart. "I… I had forgotten what it was like. That blind youthful optimism that I could face everything if I just believed I could." Robin looked down. "What happened to me?"

A large weight was felt on her shoulder making her look straight ahead, seeing Chesnaught staring back at her grinning and his arm stretched out.

Robin smiled. "But you never changed, did you?"

"Failure can be an excellent teaching experience, but it can also drag you down into the pits of despair." Lucario started to say, cloaking his left paw in dark aura. "Alternatively, success can build confidence and strength of will, but can leave you blind and stagnant." Lucario continued, cloaking his right paw in light aura. "Only when you have a proper balance of both-" Lucario put his paws together fusing the aura's dispelling them and cancelling them out. "Can your mind truly be at peace and capable of learning."

Kai walked forward. "This world is difficult we both know that. But you need to stop beating yourself up about it. You know what happened on my first day? I was dragged around the school until my arm ripped off. I had to answer questions about topics I had never even heard of. I had a Grimm use my shoulder as a chew toy. I got cocky, and me, yes even me, a trainer who beat the champion, lost a sparring match. It was tough, and it beat me down but I had my Pokémon to help me back up, and later… my friends."

The two trainers and the two Pokémon looked at each other with kind looks and grateful feelings. However, before they could continue the sound of the school bell was heard in the distance, alerting the four.

"It would appear that it took longer to find Miss Navy than we originally thought." Lucario summarised.

"Yeah I figured that out Lucario." Kai stated returning him.

"Chesnaught Ches. Chesnaught Chesnaught? (Oi this was fun! Same time tomorrow?)" Chesnaught asked as he was being returned.

"So, see you later?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, see you later." Kai answered, before the two trainers dashed to the academy.

* * *

It was now Robin's third lesson; combat practice with Miss Goodwitch. A lesson that she was currently running late to, literally. While her pace was fine the problem cam from the fact combat practice was strictly out of uniform. This required Robin to head back to her room, get changed into her trainer attire along with a putting a fresh set of bandages on her arms, and run to the amphitheatre in the span of five minutes.

Robin stopped in front of the door to the room taking a moment to catch her breath. Reaching into her satchel she pulled out her scroll, staring at the current time. "Okay I'm only two minutes late, that shouldn't be too big of an issue."

Robin put her scroll away in her satchel and slowly pushed open the door. She stepped into the classroom only for it to go quiet and for all eyes to look towards her.

"And what time do you call this young lady?" Goodwitch critiqued staring straight at Robin.

Robin sighed through her nose. "Sorry, it took longer than expected to get ready."

"Well since you're already standing up, would you like to come here and perform a demonstration?" Goodwitch asked.

Robin walked calmly forwards. "Sure, based on how this day's gone so far I expected something like this."

Robin walked onto the raised platform by the monitor staring out into the classroom. Goodwitch tapped on her tablet putting Robin's image on the screen before leaning in closer. "In case you haven't been made aware, in these matches only one of your Pokémon may be used, any more would put your opponent at an unfair numbers disadvantage."

"Thanks, but I will only need one." Robin responded placing her hand in her red pouch.

"While this isn't normal, is there anyone who you would specifically want to fight against?"

"There is, but I'm sure he'll volunteer himself."

Goodwitch looked toward the class. "Now then, would anyone like to volunteer?"

Several hands were raised, but there was on hand in the class that had with it a pair of judgemental eyes, a look that Robin shared as the two leered at each other, a sight that Goodwitch noticed.

"Mr Teal, would you please come down?" Goodwitch offered.

Riley stood up revealing a new attire. He wore an open white-collar neck suit with was a tablet scroll device on his left wrist. Lower down he wore white trousers with a light blue belt around his waist that was decorated by interesting, silver circular devices that looked like fans.

"It would be my pleasure." Riley answered, getting up.

As Riley was heading down, Sun looked down at Robin scratching his chin.

"Ugh! This is killing me! Why does girl feel familiar to me?" Sun murmured to himself.

"If it's bothering you so much, why don't you just talk to her?" Neptune asked.

"I tried this morning, but she blew me off."

"Wait? Was that why you ditched us after our first class?" The scarlet haired teammate asked.

"That's not important. What is important is figuring out who she is. It's gonna kill me if I don't figure it out." Sun continued.

In the meantime, Riley had made his way down to the amphitheatre stadium standing opposite of Robin. Both of their portraits were on the monitor and the room began to dim, preparing their match.

"Begin!" Goodwitch declared.

The two didn't move, instead the two cautiously stood in place. Robin massaged the Pokéballs' in her pouch waiting to see what her opponent threw at her.

"Well, aren't you going to make a move?" Robin asked.

"Playing defensive I see, very well." Riley started tapping on the scroll on his wrist. "Beginning activation sequence."

Riley continued tapping the screen making the four fans on his belt begin to whir, clipping themselves of his belt and hovering in the middle of the air.

"Drones?" Robin questioned.

"Time to put an insult like you in your place!" Riley frantically tapped his scroll sliding his fingers across the surface dramatically.

Blue lights began to glow on the front of the drones, making Robin remain cautious when one of the drones fired a laser at her feet making her jump back. A second drone fired from the left, making Robin jump again, before a third fired once more brushing over her arm.

Robin grunted from the burning sensation, putting her hand on her arm only to notice no visible injuries. "Well at least my aura works fine."

From a distance Riley stared at Robin struggle against his assault. Her reflection in visible in both of his glass's lenses. "I already had low expectations of her, but this is just pathetic. How she got that uniform of hers is a complete mystery."

Riley looked away beginning to tap away at his tablet while his drones autonomously continued their attack. Robin stared at Riley in the background, clutching a Pokéball in her hand.

 _'_ _He's distracted. This might be my best chance to turn this around!'_ Robin thought.

She pulled the Pokéball out and enlarged it in her hands. "Guess you'll have to do. Now prepare for battle!"

Riley heard Robin's cry and looked back at her, only to see the approaching capsule coming his way. "What is that?! An explosive? No, it's something else! But wha-?!"

Before Riley could finish the ball landed on the floor button first before bouncing forwards in the air. The capsule suddenly opened up releasing a flash of white light that took the form of Chesnaught, falling through the air towards Riley.

"What the actual-?!"

"CHESNAUGHT! (I'M GONNA RAGE!)" Chesnaught roared, cutting Riley off.

Chesnaught body tackled Riley sending him sprawling away, winded and in pain. Chesnaught landed on his feet making dust rise of the ground under his weight, before he gave his cry.

The students in the amphitheatre responded to the cry in shock and awe, while Sun grinned.

"So that's why she seemed so familiar! I knew I wasn't crazy! Wait until I tell the others about this!" Sun cried in satisfaction, while the other members of his team had their jaws drop.

Back on the floor Robin grinned, only for a bright light getting caught in the corner of her eye forcing her to leap back. The oncoming laser grazed her leg making her crouch on the ground, swinging her arm around in an attempt to swat away the drones.

Chesnaught looked behind him to see Robin in trouble. "Chesnaught! (Robin!)"

"Don't worry about me! Just take him out quick!" Robin gestured her hand at the recovering Riley. " **Use Seed Bomb now!** "

Chesnaught looked away seeing Riley frantically swiping away at his scroll, making his drones stop attacking Robin and fly back towards him. Chesnaught puffed his cheeks, spitting a spread of combustible seeds in Riley's direction. The four drones flew in front of his body right as the seeds detonated in a powerful explosion.

The winds passed by Chesnaught and Robin, right as she got back up on her feet. The smoke from the physical move dissipated only to discover Riley was unharmed, hiding behind a hard-light barrier that projected from his drones.

"I had heard rumours of a student attending Beacon academy who controlled unbelievable creatures kept in capsules, but I thought it was just an exaggeration." Riley monologued as Robin walked forwards grabbing Chesnaught's Pokéball off the ground. "To think, not only were they true but that there was one attending Atlas as well."

"Enough talk!" Robin pointed at Riley. " **Chesnaught use Hammer Arm!** "

Chesnaught charged at Riley with both of his arms glowing, swinging down his right arm with tremendous force on the hard-light shield making white waves ripple along it but leaving the barrier undamaged.

"Keep it up! There's no way he can hold it up forever!" Robin commanded.

Chesnaught shouted as he walloped the barrier over and over again with his arms, each one creating shockwaves but doing nothing to wear it down. From behind the barrier Chesnaught's movements were reflected in Riley's glasses.

 _'_ _This doesn't make sense. Moves like Protect can't be used repeatedly, so how come his shield isn't wearing down.'_ Robin thought.

 _"_ _Hmm… that is exactly the_ _ **opposite**_ _of what you should be doing." Port stated._

The memory went on in Robin's mind making her doubt herself. _'_ _This isn't my world, maybe… maybe here I can't rely on what I've learned in Pokémon battles.'_ Robin focused on the rippling white waves going across the barrier. _'Wait a minute...'_

"Chesnaught stop!" Robin ordered, making her Pokémon stop his attack and look back at her.

Riley narrowed his eyes. _'Now!'_

Riley pressed down on his scroll making the hard-light barrier, then pressing down on the tablet making all four drones fire lasers in unison, blasting Chesnaught away.

"Chesnaught!" Robin cried out.

Chesnaught dragged his feet on the ground, slowing him down to a holt. The fur on his chest was partially singed but all in all he was relatively unharmed.

Riley quickly began tapping away at his scroll once more. "It appears that your battle strategy is just as dulled as your knowledge!" Riley pressed hard on the screen making three of the drone's circle around Chesnaught. All three began to generate a blue light preparing to fire.

Robin stretched her arm out. " **Chesnaught use Spiky Shield!** "

Chesnaught grunted and put his arms together creating a round protective shield with sharp green spikes jutting out. The drone's all shot lasers that were stopped by the status move, leaving Chesnaught unharmed.

"You're not the only one who can protect yourself!" Robin declared.

"A shame you can't!" Riley retorted, sliding his fingers across his scroll.

A buzzing sound hummed behind Robin's head making her turn around. Right in front of her was Riley's remaining drone poised behind her, ready to fire. Robin sidestepped to the left, making Riley smirk.

"Predictable." Riley gently pressed down on his scroll, in a rotation pattern making the drone rotate so that its blaster was aimed right where Robin was going to be. The drone shot its laser hitting Robin in the chest, sending her straight to the floor.

Chesnaught heard Robin's pain filled cried making him gasp in shock. He gritted his teeth and charged at Riley as a rabid berserker. Riley tapped his scroll, making lasers bombard Chesnaught on all sides, but he didn't care. He was out for payback.

"Hmm, seems the beast has lost its mind. Assuming it had one to begin with." Riley calmly commented.

Chesnaught raised his arms. "NAUGHT! (SMASH!)"

Riley quickly leapt to the side dodging the brutal double arm swing in time, as it left cracks in the floor. Chesnaught kept up the attack by swinging again with his right arm, only for Riley to get in close and push it to the side before gently rubbing his scroll, making the drones turn and shoot Chesnaught.

Chesnaught cried out, getting the attention of Robin who was picking herself off the ground. She looked on to see Chesnaught swinging wildly without using any of his moves, only for Riley to perfectly dodge or block his swings before counter-attacking.

"Those movements. The way he's taking action before Chesnaught can do move, it's like he knows what Chesnaught's about to do ahead of time." Robin realised. "Chesnaught! Stop acting out! Stay foc-!"

A laser from the drone behind shot Robin in the back cutting her off. Making her fall on her front, making her press her arms on the floor to try and pick herself back up.

Chesnaught growled and took a big breath, puffing his cheeks.

"Nice try." Riley tapped once on his scroll making the drones all fly back to him.

"CHESNAUGHT! (EAT THIS!)" Chesnaught shouted, spitting out Seed Bomb.

The drones reappeared in front of Riley just in time, creating their hard-light barrier to block the oncoming explosions. Chesnaught kept them coming, making the chain of explosions even bigger, the wind made Riley's hair and suit flap, with Riley calmly sighing in response.

"Dumb creature." Riley swiped upwards on his scroll, making the drones push the barrier forward. This in turn made the explosions go off sooner, eventually moving close enough to engulf Chesnaught in his own attack.

"Chesnaught!" Robin shouted.

The attack cleared out, showing Chesnaught covered in scratches and with trails of smoke coming off him. The amount of damage he was taking beginning to dwindle up.

Robin gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she got to her feet. "You… You somehow know where we'll dodge and how we'll attack ahead of time. How?!"

Behind the barrier, Riley calmly adjusted his glasses. "I suppose you wouldn't be able to figure it out. I suppose I'll take pity on you. It's because of my semblance."

"Your semblance?" Robin repeated.

"Yes, unlike most flashy semblances. Mine is actually a rare intelligence-based kind. I call it 'Pattern Recognition'." Riley pointed to his spectacles. "All I need to do is see someone act in front of me, then after I've seen enough, I'm able to predict their every move."

Robin scowled. _'Great, his semblance acts like a never ending Detect! How am I supposed to land a hit on this guy?!'_

"Ches…naught." Chesnaught grunted stamping his feet.

"Well you're certainly stubborn, but all that does is prolong the inevitable. Take a look at her aura over there, a few more hits and it's over." Riley gestured to the monitor revealing Robin's aura was in the amber, whereas Riley's was mostly green having only taken one hit from Chesnaught's surprising arrival.

"So that's it? I try to attack you, you predict what I'm about to do, then you finish me off and prove just how weak I am.." Robin looked at Riley with a serious look in her eye. "Does that sound right?"

"Hmm, finally accepting your place as a fraud and a failure to Atlas. It certainly took you long enough, though to be fair you are quite slow." Riley insulted.

Chesnaught looked at Robin, who continued to stare at Riley. "That almost sounds like an unbeatable strategy, shame you made one fatal mistake."

"And what might that be?"

Robin raised her Pokéball at Chesnaught. "You underestimated me." Robin pressed the centre button sending out a red beam that returned Chesnaught much to most of the class' shock.

Riley cautiously lowered his barrier. "Accepting your fate, I can respect that." Riley tapped his scroll making the four drones fly towards Robin ready to fire.

Robin looked down at her bandaged arms, taking a breath. "Relax it's just like old times…"

* * *

 _Robin's mind trailed back to the day she had received Chespin and started her journey. Looking up towards the clear blue sky, she took a deep breath of fresh air._

 _She clicked her heels making wheels pop out of her trainers as they became roller-skates._

 _"_ _Let's get started." Past Robin declared._

* * *

In the present Robin clicked her heels together, transforming her black and white trainers into roller-skates. She opened her eyes the moment the drones shot their lasers, pushing herself forward, accelerating in an instant, allowing her to skate away from the attack.

Riley flinched. "Roller skates?!"

Riley furiously tapped away at his tablet moving the drones in the air, rotating them as the begun to fire rapidly at Robin's position. Robin confidently skated in an arc, tilting her body to the side and pushing her arm out so that her fingertips were inches from the floor. Two drones flew close to eye level in front of Robin's skating path blocking her off.

"Got her, she'll have no choice but to either slow down to a stop or move to the left or right, then I'll have her." Riley explained to himself.

In response, Robin calmly took a breath as she approached at high speeds jumping in the air and performing a dramatic twirling backflip over the two drones, landing perfectly behind them, then immediately skating off.

Riley's eyes widened. "Those moves… where did she learn to skate like that?!"

Riley clenched his teeth. _'I thought I had her movement patterns down, but with those skates the way she moves is completely different. It's like someone else has taken control!'_

Robin performed a Drift-and-dash technique, letting her quickly skate in the opposite direction, allowing her to avoid another laser and beginning a straight course towards Riley. She held Chesnaught's Pokéball in her hand, as she began pulling her arm back and scrunching her eyes.

 _'_ _That pose! That's the same as when she threw that creature at me the first time! But it won't work again!'_

Riley quickly tapped once on his scroll making the drones all fly back to him right as Robin threw her Pokéball.

"Chesnaught go!" Robin cried out sending the ball spinning towards Riley.

"That won't work twice!" Riley called out as he engaged his defensive barrier.

Robin smirked as the ball hit the ground, but then something strange occurred. Due to the spin she put on the ball's axis, instead of bouncing forwards the ball bounced upwards. Riley looked up in surprise while Robin raised her arm into the sky putting her thumb and finger together.

"Now!" Robin snapped her fingers.

The ball opened making the stream of light trail downwards at an angle, materialising Chesnaught behind Riley; behind his barrier.

"Chesnaught Ches? (Remember me?)" Chesnaught greeted, raising his right arm high.

Riley narrowed his eyes, quickly dodging to the left. "I've seen that before too!"

Robin smirked. " **Stone Edge!** "

Chesnaught turned to face Riley and punched the ground. Riley's showed no concern believing he dodged the swing, until the ground begun to tremble. A sharp rock erupted underneath Riley stabbing itself into his chest. The rock shattered, sending dozens of rock shards upwards each one cutting and pelting Riley, sending him upwards.

Falling in pain he quickly drew a motion on his scroll, making his drone's carry the barrier upwards and rotate on their side. Allowing Riley to land on a hard-light platform, floating in the air.

Riley skated to Chesnaught's side going to a holt, before pointing at Riley in the air. " **Chesnaught use Seed Bomb!** "

Chesnaught followed the order, spitting a large array of combustible seeds at Riley, all of them exploding under his barrier. Riley got to his feet, though the shockwaves from below were making him wobble in place.

"You're wasting your time. Didn't you learn previously?!" Riley lectured.

"I did actually. It took longer than I would have liked but I realised a problem with your barrier." Robin began to explain.

"You're bluffing! Hard-Light Dust is Atlas' specialty! Densely concentrated into precise lasers or solid shields! My barrier is the perfect defence!"

"I thought so too. It even reminded me of a certain technique some Pokémon can use." Robin took a step forward, while the shaking made Riley drop to his knees. "But then I remembered there were other moves that were also similar to your barrier; Reflect and Light Screen specifically. And just like those your barrier works by spreading out the force of an attack instead of cancelling it out, right?"

Riley narrowed his eyes. "Yes… So what?"

"It means that I was going about beating it all wrong. Observe…" Robin pointed to the aura monitor, revealing that Riley's aura was gradually going down.

"What?! But his attack isn't getting through so how am I-?!" Riley fell on his face before he could finish, the shockwaves of the explosions underneath making his body tremble and shake. "Wait-! The Hard-Light is blocking heat and air pressure from the explosions… but not all of explosions vibrations or the forces!"

"Just like Reflect. It just didn't affect you before because there was a gap of air between you and the barrier for the reduced shockwaves to reduce it further but since you're pressed up against it… Well now it's just a matter of time." Robin smugly finished explaining.

Riley scowled. "You think you can beat me?! A dumb! Unworthy person like you can beat an Atlas elite like me?!"

Robin's smile faded becoming a neutral expression. "Yes actually. I do."

Robin snapped her fingers making Chesnaught stop and get a big gulp of air while the explosions cleared under the barrier, revealing the drones were beginning to crack and chip away.

"My drone's?!"

"Like I said, you never felt the shockwaves. But those drones have been taking damage this entire time."

Robin thought back to the shockwaves induced from all of Chesnaught's attacks. The multitude of Hammer Arms and Seed Bombs racking up. If Riley was the trainer issuing commands, then the drones were Pokémon reducing the damage they tuck, but still receiving it just the same, and now they were about to faint.

All four drones began to shatter and explode one by one, making the hard-light barrier Riley was resting on begin to flicker and disappear, making him fall frantically through the air as he fell towards the ground.

"Let's finish this! **Chesnaught use Hammer Arm!** " Robin ordered.

Chesnaught raised his right arm, infusing it with fighting spirit. "Chesnaught Chesnaught?! Chesnaught! (How's this for a prediction?! You've lost!)"

Chesnaught raised his arm swinging it violently into Riley's falling body, dragging him straight into the ground with a powerful impact that created an explosion of dust. When it cleared it showed Riley embedded into the ground which is glasses broken and a high-pitched wail escaping his lips.

A buzzer went off and the lights went on signifying the match was over. Robin looked over to the large monitor over the raised platform to see Riley's aura was very low in the red, single digits specifically.

Robin turned to her Chesnaught holding her Pokéball out. "That was good work Chesnaught, despite your reckless actions without my commands." Chesnaught pouted and looked away, making Robin look at the Pokéball in her hand. "I know I'm not as nice as I used to be, but thanks for putting up with me this long… and for saying yes."

Chesnaught turned back to Robin, pausing for a moment before giving a wide grin. "Chesnaught. (Always.)"

Robin returned Chesnaught, before looking down at the defeated Riley.

"I may not live up to your standards, but whether or not I deserve to wear a uniform or not I honestly don't care because frankly, I have more important things to care about." Robin began to walk out into the seats.

 _'_ _I will get better. I will get stronger. And someday… I will finish the journey the other me started, and prove that I can handle the best.'_ Robin thought, with images of Kai along with silhouettes of an older woman in white and a raven-haired figure above her.

 _'_ _That's a promise.'_

* * *

 **Sorry for the long gap between updates but I've been pre-occupied with some things.**

 **Three things; first the purpose of this arc. This new arc is called the 'Tales of Beacon' arc. This arc will be slower and more character driven, with each chapter focusing on a set character or characters and fleshing them out; in this chapter's case it was Robin.**

 **Fun Fact: The appearance of Riley and his team are based on Kill La Kill characters. Riley is based on H** **ōku Inumata, the short statured teammate is based on Takaharu Fukuroda, the muscular teammate is based on Ira Gamagōri, and the green haired teammate is based on Uzu Sangeyama.**

 **Second is my update schedule. Normally I make posts weekly by writing multiple chapters in advance but given the nature of this arc, I've decided to try something different and post in the regular way, once a chapter is done. In other words don't expect another chapter this time next week unless I really push myself.**

 **Third and finally is a little project I've been waiting to share. Over the weeks I have been making preparations to write a new story! I figured after more than a year on Fan-Fiction I should try my hand at something else. Granted that might seem fool hardy given how this story is still in progress but that's just how I feel.**

 **The story in particular will be set in the world of 'Fairy Tail' by Hiro Mashima. However this is where things get unique. My story will take place after the end of the main storyline and will focus on a group of OC characters banding together in a completely unique plotline. This has taken a lot of work to think of and work on so I hope you look forward to it.**

 **If you want a taste of the new story then if you check my profile you will see a short story called 'A day in the life of Cryptid's', this acts similar to the colour trailers from before Volume 1 of RWBY where each chapter will focus on one of the main characters. Currently the first chapter is up so take a look if you're interested.**

 **Sorry for the wall of text at the end, but until next time this is Kallerston signing out!**


	42. Chapter 39: The tale of talent and soul

**-Midday, Beacon Academy-**

In the world of Remnant life was never easy. With the looming dread that one bad day could attract packs of ravenous monsters to kill you, the people you loved and anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire, moments of safe routine and enjoyment were both rare and a high necessity.

One of these moments was the small lunch break in Beacon academies canteen where students could talk, fill their bellies or get into a large-scale food fight of epic proportions. And currently sitting at their usual table was Team RWBY along with Kai, enjoying the moment in their own sort of way.

"Hmm~" Kai hummed to himself. "Hmmm~ Hmmmm~"

"Would you just answer the question!" Weiss outburst.

Kai defensively lifted his hands in front of his face. "Okay, okay, geez. Give a guy a break, this isn't exactly something I have much experience with." Kai tapped his finger on his fork, making it clink as it tilted up and down like a see-saw. "Honestly… I have to side with Ruby on this one."

Weiss raised her arms in frustration. "Seriously?!"

Ruby opposingly fist bumped the air with a proud look on her face. "See Weiss, I told you it wasn't a big deal."

"No. I refuse to accept defeat." Weiss conceited.

"Come on ice queen give it a rest, you've been complaining all morning." Yang groaned.

"It's a matter of principal Yang. You can't just expect me to stand down when my notes are being fabricated by unworthy hands." Weiss leered at Ruby with a piercing gaze that in another world may have lowered her defence.

"I told you I was sorry. I just needed to write down the parts I missed out on." Ruby apologised.

"Because you let yourself get distracted in class. Again."

"It's not my fault! Professor Port is just so dull."

Weiss looked away from the table. "Honestly Ruby you only bring this on yourself." Weiss suddenly pointed dramatically at Kai and Yang. "And as for you two! I honestly expected better. At least you agree with me Blake."

The table all stared towards Blake whose head was firmly cushioned between the pages of a large, thick textbook.

"Um…sure…" Blake murmured from behind the cover.

The rest of the table looked at Blake with unconvinced looks, taking notice of her current attitude.

"So, you agree that our reality isn't real and just the construct of some greater being's imagination." Kai joked.

"Yeah…okay…" Blake whispered, turning a page.

Kai looked back at the rest of team RWBY. "Okay combat practice is one thing but lunch too? Isn't this starting to get obsessive."

Ruby looked down towards her food despondently. "Recently it's all that Blake does. Even when we hang out in class or at our dorm it still doesn't feel like she's actually there."

"Well I think it's about time we do something about it!" Yang abruptly got out of her seat, attracting the attention of everyone on the table. She walked over to Blake who seemed completely unaware of her presence and quickly yanked the book out of Blake's hands. "Yoink!"

Blake's eyes widened at the sudden withdrawal of her book, making her tilt her head up towards to see Yang dangling the book in the air. "Hey! Give that back Yang!"

Blake reached out for the book only for Yang to use her extra height and arm length to keep it out of her reach. "Eh. Eh. Eh. Come on Blake, you don't need this dumb book to keep yourself occupied when you've got all of us here to keep you company."

"We know you like reading but even you need to eat Blake." Weiss explained.

Blake went to struggle more for her book when Weiss' comment suddenly made her stomach feel empty and growl, the sudden realisation making her strength wear in an instant. Blake stared down at her lunch; a freshly fried fish and she subconsciously felt her mouth begin to salivate. With everything against her Blake gave up and sat back down, slowly eating her lunch.

"I expect my book back after I'm finished." Blake stated between bites.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." Yang replied, as she walked back over to her seat.

Kai sighed to himself as he took a bite of a sandwich. "I haven't had a lunch this tense and awkward since trainer school."

"Did you say something Kai?" Weiss asked.

Kai nervously gulped making his food go down the wrong hole, causing him to start choking and coughing. He quickly grabbed a glass of water and gulped it down quick to clear his throat before sighing in relief. "It's nothing. I just need to keep my mouth shut when I'm eating."

Weiss just rolled her eyes at the Kalos trainer and went to carry on with eating her own lunch when a tray clinked opposite of her. She raised her eyes in front of her to see Jaune sitting down opposite her on the table.

"Whatever you're about to say to me, just know that I'm not going to change my answer. I've made my stance very clear on how I feel about you and honestly it's just sad seeing you try and continue." Weiss informed Jaune.

"I was just going to say that I'm sorry for pestering you over and over again with these lame pickup lines. I realised that they were just dumb and insensitive. So, I'm sorry I put you through that." Jaune apologised.

Jaune's statement made most of the female members of the table look at him in near wide-eyed shock, even Blake was grasped by this development. Only Kai continued to act as normal, he didn't know all the details but since he showed up at the end of Jaune and Robin's _'date'_ he knew that Robin had somehow left an impression on him.

Weiss just stared at Jaune, blinking in surprise before she managed to compose herself. "Well… I'm glad that you have finally understood the situation and I accept your apology."

Jaune smiled in relief. "Great. So now that we're on a clean slate, I was wondering would you like to go to the-"

"No thanks." Weiss cut off.

Jaune paused in surprise and raised his arms up. "But you didn't even let me finish. I'm being natural and not trying any moves or anything."

"And as I told you already, nothing you were going to say was going to change my answer. So, I hope you're satisfied with it."

Jaune groaned in response and placed his head on the table in defeat. The rest of Team JNPR joined the table and stared at their leader's melancholy before sitting down just like normal.

"So how's everyone's day been?" Pyrrha casually greeted the table.

Kai shrugged. "Eh, same old same old. Right now, I'm just getting used to having a roommate."

"Oh yeah, Jaune told us about her last night." Nora revealed, choosing to lean across the table to stare closer into Kai's face. "So, how's life with your new girlfriend?"

Kai's face immediately flushed, his throat going dry despite gulping a large volume of water just moments ago. "W-What? Girlfriend?! She's not-! We're not-!" Kai just looked at Nora. "Why do you always have to say things like that?!"

"Because watching you react like this is hilarious." Nora gleefully answered without a care in the world.

Kai huffed in response and leaned back in his seat. "Well it's not funny."

"Come on Kai, it's pretty funny." Yang happily joined in.

"Well I for one think teasing him is juvenile. Even if Kai's reactions are entertaining." Weiss argued in Kai's defence.

Kai groaned. "Can we not talk about something else?"

"Well I suppose we could talk about the upcoming talent show." Pyrrha suggested.

"Oh yeah I was thinking about signing up for that." Jaune confessed, finally lifting his head up. "You may not know this but I happen to be a practitioner of the arcane arts." Jaune proudly declared.

"So… you're gonna perform some magic tricks." Yang summarised.

Jaune pouted and crossed his arms. "It doesn't sound as impressive when you put it like that."

"Well I think it sounds like a wonderful idea Jaune. I remember when I was younger, I was enthralled in stories about magic." Pyrrha explained.

"I'm flattered Pyrrha but you know it's not going to be that kind of magic right?" Jaune explained. "Although if I were to perform, I would need a beautiful assistant to-"

"Still no." Weiss interrupted.

Jaune hit the table. "Dang it."

 _'Honestly with Dust, Aura and Semblances I'm surprised the concept of magic is a thing in Remnant. Then again I have seen Pokémon do some magical things.'_ Kai contemplated to himself.

"What about you Kai, are you going to enter? I'm sure you and your team could do some incredible things!" Ruby asked.

Kai was brought out of his thoughts by Ruby's question. "Not really, I may have been able to teach them to talk but aside from that and battling my team don't have anything of talent show quality."

"Well what about you, I'm sure you've got a few tricks hiding under that hat of yours." Yang teased.

Kai nervously pulled his hat tighter on his head. "Me… Yeah I'm not really that special either… No siree… nope… no real talent comes to mind…"

"Come on Kai! What are you holding out on us?! Tell us!" Nora demanded.

"Let's calm down Nora." Pyrrha kindly looked towards Kai. "No need to doubt yourself Kai. Everyone has some sort of talent, that the beauty of talent shows, it lets provides a stage for people to express their unique gift."

"Well I'm drawing a blank sorry…" Kai nervously looked around, spotting Weiss. "What about you Weiss? Are you going to enter the talent show?"

"Don't try to draw attention away from yourself Kai. Though I suppose if you must know, I have no such intention of entering." Weiss answered.

"You aren't? But I thought you told us you used to sing in front of people all the time. Why not now?" Ruby revealed.

"That was a long time ago. I haven't even rehearsed in months."

Before the talk could continue Kai felt someone approach him from the side. "Mind if I join you?"

Kai turned his head to the side to see Robin standing next to him with a tray of food in her hands.

"Of course, you can sit here Robin we're all friends here." Ruby invited.

"Well it might be early to say we're friends but I appreciate the sentiment." Robin proceeded to sit down preparing to start eating when she looked toward Kai with an odd expression on her face. "Are you feeling alright? You look a little red."

Robin's comment only served to make Kai's face go redder before he turned away in embarrassment. "I'm fine, it's nothing really."

"If you say so." Robin looked ahead to see Team JNPR, especially Nora staring right at her. "Um-"

Nora suddenly appeared beside Robin taking her by surprise. "So you're the mysterious alien girl Jaune talked about!"

"Could you not have said that quieter?" Robin asked in an irritated tone.

"Nora just forgets to control her volume when she's excited." Ren explained.

"Right… Is no one going to introduce me?"

"Oh right!" Kai gestured to the unknown members of team JNPR. "Robin these guys are: Nora, Ren and Pyrrha. Guys this is Robin."

"Hello!" Pyrrha introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Ren greeted

"So what monsters have you got?" Nora bluntly asked.

Robin stared at Nora. "You're certainly direct." Robin faced the rest of the table. "But… I suppose it's nice to meet all of you."

Suddenly the doors to the dining hall burst open with a bang. All the students in the room turned to the door in surprise where Sun was seen looking around the room for something.

"Sun? What is he doing?" Blake asked herself.

"Hold on, you know him?" Robin asked.

Kai turned back to Robin, his face finally back to being its regular colour. "Yeah he's a friend of ours. Do you know him?"

"After my first period he got my attention in the hallway, he said that something about me was different."

"I mean he wasn't wrong. Cause, you know… the whole alien thing." Nora bluntly explained.

"Can you please stop saying that out loud?"

From the end of the room Sun finally spotted the table where Kai and the others were and quickly ran to them, passing by the various other tables of students who were still recovering from the surprise of Sun's entrance. Sun even jumped off one table in particular to leap through the air, landing directly behind Kai.

"Hey guys! Kai you got a minute?" Sun quickly greeted seemingly oblivious to Robin sitting next to him.

"Um sure Sun. Actually while you're here you should meet-" Kai started to say.

"Great! So I was just going about my regular day attending first period when I spot this girl. Now normally I don't really care about that sort of thing except this girl seemed really different but somehow familiar and different at the same time and it started driving me crazy." Sun described.

Kai looked towards Robin, who gave Kai a look back. "Um Sun, I really think I should introduce you to-"

"Don't interrupt this is important! Anyway, after class I confronted her and she acted really weird. Honestly she was being kinda rude."

Robin turned towards the rest of the table. "Should I just say something?"

"Hang on a moment. I wanna see how long it takes for him to figure it out." Yang suggested.

"Anyway, time passed until we had combat practice where she and this other guy had a fight. And the thing is and brace yourself because I know you won't see this coming." Sun carried on.

"I'm pretty sure I will." Kai interrupted.

"She was a trainer! Like you! She had a Pokémon and everything, this weird tall thing with a shell that spat explosive seeds! Now I know what you're thinking and no, I don't know where she is. But if the two of us look around I'm sure we can find her in no time." Sun concluded.

The table all looked at Sun in silence as he all looked at them expectantly. Eventually Robin cleared her throat to get his attention. "Are you quite finished?"

Sun looked down at her. "Yeah I'm done." Sun looked away from her only for the realisation to hit him in the face. He looked back at Robin, then at Kai and then the rest of the table. "Was she always just sitting there?"

"Pretty much." The whole table replied in unison.

"Huh."

The table was interrupted yet again by Neptune and the other members of Sun's team arriving, all of whom were panting in place.

"Dude… you have got to stop ditching us…" Neptune said in-between breaths.

"Oh Neptune!" Weiss happily greeted.

"And… others?" Yang added, her face scrunching up as she tried to recognise the two other men.

"I guess this is the first time you've all met each other." Sun gestured at the scarlet and sage haired boys from his team. "These two are Scarlet David and Sage Ayana. These guys and Neptune make up my team."

"Hey!" Scarlet waved.

"Sup." Sage nodded.

"So what did we miss?" Neptune asked.

Sun pointed to Robin who just gave a blank stare at the introduced members of team SSSN. The three's jaws dropped just like they did when they saw her bring out Chesnaught.

Neptune turned to face Sun. "You work fast."

"Did they fawn over you this much too?" Robin asked Kai.

"Pretty much. You get used to it." Kai answered.

"So, what were you losers talking about before we showed up?" Sun asked.

Nora cleared her throat. "Kai was just introducing us to Robin, since it turns out they're both-"

Robin ran to the other side of the table and cupped her hand over Nora's mouth, making the rest of her words become muffled. "Do you ever stop talking?! Think for a moment, two of these people you've only just met, should we really be saying anything to them."

"Don't be like that, Scarlet and Sage are cool." Sun explained with pride, making his teammates glow in the background. "I mean sure I didn't want to risk telling them about Kai originally. And yeah Scarlet doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut and… you know actually maybe you two should just go."

Sun turned to his teammates, their glows quickly becoming dark shadows of despair over their heads. Robin just stared at the two when her eyes widened with disgust and she cried out, making her retract her hand from Nora's mouth.

Robin stared down to see her palm was now dripping wet. "Did you just lick my hand?!"

"Don't act like I'm the weirdo, you're the one who put your fingers on my face." Nora argued, dodging the question.

Ren just looked at Robin apologetically. "I'm sorry about that."

Robin just shook her hand rapidly and scraped any remaining spit on the table. "Ugh, so gross."

Jaune smirked at Robin's reaction. "Wow, getting licked two days in a row. Here I thought I had bad luck."

"Don't remind me... One of these days I'm gonna stop Tyrantrum's habit one way or another." Robin shuddered.

"Come on, don't be so hard on the guy. He did stop the rampaging Pokémon that White Fang guy sent out." Jaune reminded.

"Easy for you to say. You didn't spend the next few hours in police custody covered in spit with no way to wash or change clothes."

Beside her Kai was mentally shuddering. _'That must have been hell. Glad none of my Pokémon ever picked up a habit like that.'_

Suddenly Blake's attitude picked up instantaneously. "Hold on! Did you just say the White Fang?"

Jaune focused his attention to Blake. "Wait you don't know about-" Jaune stopped himself and facepalmed. "Right since only me Robin and Kai were there only my team knows what happened."

"Wait, did something happen yesterday?" Weiss asked.

"I suppose you could say that." Kai glumly responded.

While Team JNPR knew the story already, Jaune filled in everyone else who weren't involved. Robin was against the idea but let the matter go after Jaune and Kai convinced her that nobody would recklessly tell anyone else, even putting their faith in Sun that his team wouldn't do anything that dumb.

"So, the guy who's been running Team Flare and brought you here was right there and he just got away." Sun summarised.

"Pretty much." Robin answered with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Geez that's rough." Sage sympathised.

"You have no idea."

"I still can't believe Jaune over here ran straight into a sea monster! Lucky!" Nora enviously.

"I wouldn't exactly call it lucky." Jaune gulped at the memory.

One Huntress however didn't participate in their discussion. Too deep in their own thoughts and feelings of concern Blake abruptly got out of her seat.

"Sorry, I have to go." Blake apologised as she walked away from the table, leaving her half-eaten lunch behind.

"Blake wait! What about your book don't you want that back?" Ruby asked her teammate who only seemed to get further and further away until she walked out the door.

"What was that about?" Robin asked the table.

"It's… complicated." Kai awkwardly answered.

Ruby sighed getting out of her seat. "I'll follow her."

"Ruby you don't have to, you know. I'm sure we can trust Blake to find us again later… at least this time." Weiss pointed out.

"I know but I want to. I'm the leader and Blake's my teammate, I'm going to try and help. Besides, one of us should at least make sure she doesn't end up running away into Vale again right."

Ruby explained the situation to her teammates who nodded in understanding. Ruby smiled back and rushed across the lunch hall and out of the door, hoping to spot Blake.

"Blake! Come back Blake!" Ruby called out, running across the courtyard.

Ruby looked left and right as she searched for her friend. This unfortunately meant that she didn't look in front of her leading to a head on collision with another student that knocked both of them flat on their backs.

"Ow~ Sorry." Ruby moaned, massaging her temple. She slowly got to her feet and stared at who she knocked over, making her gasp before giving a brief smile. "Hi again…"

* * *

Time waned on until lunch finished allowing the rest of the day to unfold. Sure, enough Blake and Ruby did return to take part in the remaining lessons of the day but the two of them acted odd. Blake seemed even more distracted than usual and less attentive to those around her, her team especially. Ruby also seemed less attentive but less out of coldness and more out of distraction, something was on her mind and whatever it was seemed to excite her. Regardless day soon became night where in one particular dorm Kai was gazing out of the window staring deep into the night time sky. The stars in the sky were brightly lit, getting eclipsed by the occasional passing cloud or Atlesian air ship and yet Kai still looked out expecting more.

"It's your own fault you know." Robin bluntly stated.

Robin currently sat on her bed having taken off her minidress, her socks and her shoes. She lay back on her bed with a history textbook in her hands, trying to gain any information from what was written down.

"I know but trust me, Talonflame is not the type of Pokémon that you want to put in a cage. He gets all mopey, and grumpy… and violent." Kai subconsciously rubbed his cheek, his look shifting from the sky to the green glow of Beacon's tower.

"What else is new?" Robin flicked to the next page in her book sighing as she did. "What's the point in even learning all this, it's not like Remnant world history will do me much good when I leave this planet."

Kai shrugged. "I don't know but you might as well try to learn some of it. Who knows how long we're gonna be here for?"

Despite the passiveness in the comment it still stung for both of them. Reminding them of when they let Xerosic get away. For Kai it was another extension to his already lengthy stay and for Robin it was another failure and a missed opportunity to leave while she was still a new arrival.

"I guess…" Robin looked back down at her book, her eye lids getting heavier. "Doesn't change how pointless it all is."

Kai looked away from the window and towards his belt sighing to himself. "Alright time to go find him." Kai pulled two Pokéballs off his belt, opening them up to bring out Greninja and Aegislash.

"You request our aid Sire?" Aegislash asked.

Kai nodded. "Talonflame still hasn't come back yet. Can you two help me find him?"

"Hmph honestly. I know not why he insists on pushing your generosity Sire. You are too good to him." Aegislash commented.

"Do I have too~. I found him last time." Greninja moaned.

"He is our teammate and family Greninja. He is our responsibility to care for and cherish, no matter how aggravating or foolish his actions are. It is a duty that we must burden and uphold as members of Sire's court and-!"

"I get it. I get it. Sheesh! I'd rather spend all night looking for the beak brain then listen to you flap your non-existent gums for another second." Greninja casually leaned out the window and fell forwards onto his front, using his sticky feet to cling to the outside wall and make his way down.

Aegislash floated to the window and slowly focused her limited levitation to slow her descent downwards, falling at a speed similar to a rubber weight in a swimming pool. "If it will get you to collaborate then so be it."

"You're talking again!"

The two Pokémon's muffled speech was getting quieter by the second as Kai's Pokémon descended down to the ground.

Robin in response just looked at Kai with an unamused look. "You know for a trainer who beat the champion and did the impossible by teaching them to speak… you really have poor control over your team."

Kai went to respond but just shrugged and chose to leave the room. "That's fair… You'll call me if Talonflame comes back right?"

"Sure. Now go find your missing Pokémon, Mr champion rank."

Kai closed the door behind him leaving Robin alone with her book. She took a deep breath and continued reading each word, line by line on the page. Each repetitive, dull…uninteresting…point…less…ex…haus…ting…

Eventually the physical and mental exhaustion from her first day took its toll and Robin's eyes went shut. Her mouth opened wide taking deep peaceful breaths, and forming a small puddle of drool that slowly dripped past her lips. The grip on the history book loosened until it finally fell out of her hands and landing at the side of her bed with the rest of her cluttered possessions. She had entered a deep, blissful sleep.

Which was quite unfortunate since less than ten seconds later Talonflame flew through the window, perching himself on the windowsill's edge.

"Stupid trigger-happy idiot… I've had to change my flight path three times because of those stupid airships. THREE TIMES!" Talonflame grunted. "Look Kai I'm sorry I'm late, I got held up by…" Talonflame looked around the room and realised that he was all alone, barring a sleeping Robin. "Where is everybody?!"

Talonflame's shouting disturbed Robin's sleep momentarily, but when it ended, she rolled onto her side and carried on dreaming, sound asleep.

* * *

Beacon's grounds were cold and still in Summer night. Pale moonlight cascaded onto the tall buildings casting any area that wasn't already in total darkness with a thin layer of shadow. All was still and quiet except for a single noise breaking any stealth and silence.

"Do-Do-Do! Dum diddly dum! Do-Do-Do-Do! Dum dum dee dum! Duh-!"

"Greninja, shush your insufferable mouth. Do not forget we need to remain quiet."

Walking across the edge of the Main Avenue were Greninja and Aegislash. Greninja walked leisurely in an upright with his front legs crossed behind his head in a very relaxed manner. Aegislash contrasted with her teammate, as she floated just above the ground with a very straight and very firm posture her eye currently narrowed at Greninja's behaviour.

"Geez someone's grumpy." Greninja mocked.

"This is no time for games, lest we not forget we have been tasked with retrieving Talonflame." Aegislash reminded.

"I know, I know. But no one said we couldn't at least _try_ to have some fun while we're doing it. I may be a Dark type but it is really boring at night."

Aegislash sighed. "Three years I have known you ever since you were but a mere Frogadier. And in all that time despite all that we have been subjugated to, you still refuse to mature."

Greninja shrugged. "You're one to talk. Ever since Kai caught you all you've done is nag, nag, nag. It gets old Aegislash."

"All I am trying to accomplish is to strengthen ourselves and resolve our faults so that we are worthy of being in Sire's court." Aegislash proudly declared.

"Pretty sure I'm good. You know on the count Kai hasn't released me yet."

Aegislash groaned. "We are getting off topic, let us get back to the task at hand."

Greninja went to say something back when something caught the corner of his eye. He turned his head and small light illuminated his face. Noticing Greninja's unusual silence Aegislash turned to where Greninja was, her face illuminated by the same glow. Flying right before them was a swarm of small bioluminescent lights floating in the wind, caused by a simple Summer creature.

"Fireflies?" Aegislash muttered.

Greninja stretched his front legs out letting some of the bugs land on him. "I'm normally not a fan of bugs but I can dig these little guys."

"I suppose they are pretty, aren't they? Not quite as large as Volbeat or Illumise but I don't suppose they have to be do they?" Aegislash admired the insects before them briefly relaxing her posture for a moment. Though as soon as she felt herself slouch, she immediately straightened back up. "Come along Greninja now is not the time to dilly dally. We still have to complete our objective."

"Yeah, yeah, in a sec Aegislash." Greninja argued back.

"No Greninja. We are leaving. Now!" Aegislash unsheathed herself and slammed her shield on the ground, scaring the fireflies away. Greninja just looked up as they frantically circled upwards into the sky.

"You really have to be a killjoy, don't you? You can't just stop and smell the… the…" Greninja looked off into the grassy fields in the distance, his eyes narrowing. "…roses?"

Aegislash hovered over to Greninja. "What is it now Greninja? Has a fly suddenly captivated your attention?"

Greninja didn't respond immediately instead he slowly pressed his front feet onto the ground. "Tell you what Aegislash, how about we find Talonflame by splitting up. You go whichever way you were going and I go this way."

"What are you going on about?! What have you seen?" Aegislash irritably asked.

"That technically wasn't a no! Okay! Thanks! Bye!"

Greninja leaped forward going into a sprint, running quickly across the ground as his feet shifted from the cold hard concrete that made up the Main Avenue, to the soft dry grass that covered the land the Huntsman academy was built on.

"Greninja?! What has come over you?! Return here this instant!" Aegislash called out to her teammate but he did not respond, he just quickly became more of a figure in the distance. Aegislash just narrowed her eyes in a disapproving manner and floated after Greninja as fast as she could. "What a fool."

* * *

In another part of Beacon much further into the academy Kai was currently walking down a Beacon walkway. To his left were windows that went inside the school and to his right was the expansive campus.

He stared over to the right looking outwards and sighing. "Maybe Talonflame's already back in the room already?" Kai went to turn back but stopped himself. "No. Robin said she would have messaged me if he came back, he must still be out." Kai stepped away from the under the walkway and cupped his hands in front of his mouth. "TALONFLAME!"

"…"

No response.

Kai took a couple of deep breaths in and out to calm his nerves. "He's fine. Talonflame's fine. But once I find out where he's been all this time he won't be." Kai began jogging through the empty areas of the school keeping an eye and ear out for anything Talonflame related. Minutes passed until Kai stopped and felt his ears twitch, his attention being caught by a garden pavilion in the distance.

" _Mirror~"_

 _'Singing? Out here at this time?'_ Kai thought as he approached the pavilion. He knew it wasn't Talonflame but it seemed somehow familiar to him.

 _"Tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all."_

The voice and the song began to soothe Kai's concern for Talonflame, making his Perception begin to fade as he approached the source of the song. But at this point he was close enough that even his regular earshot could hear it.

 _"I'm the loneliest of all~"_

Kai stepped into the pavilion, where he stared at the mysterious singer who attracted him here. He scrunched his eyes in the dark until he finally got a good look, making his face light up with surprise.

"…Weiss?"

From inside the pavilion Weiss quickly turned around in shock to see Kai staring at her, the two looking at each other with equal amounts of surprise and questions.

Eventually Weiss' surprised face of shock turned into a frustrated frown. "What are you even doing out here this late?! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Kai blinked rapidly in a nervous fashion. "Well… Talonflame hasn't come back from his flight so I've just been looking for him. That's all I swear."

Weiss put her hands to her hips and puffed herself forward. "So, you weren't eavesdropping on me?"

"No! Well kind of- I just heard this familiar singing voice and I had to follow it." Kai sheepishly looked away and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm surprised you don't enter the talent show you're pretty good. Since it turns out you have been practicing an all."

"Whether I enter some trivial competition is none of your business! Now you need to leave! Right now!"

"Right! Right. I should just go. I still need to find Talonflame." Kai admitted.

Kai didn't move from his spot. He seemed awkwardly adamant on moving just silently waiting for something to happen.

Weiss frowned at Kai and began impatiently tapping her foot. "Well? Aren't you leaving?"

Kai snapped back into reality and awkwardly started walking backwards. "Yeah! Of course! Sorry again for uh disturbing you. Good night!"

Kai turned to face where he was going and began walking away leaving Weiss alone once again. She patiently waited a few extra moments to make sure he was gone before she cleared her throat.

" _Mirror~ Tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all._ "

* * *

On the grassy fields on the outskirts of Beacon Academy a certain pair of webbed feet were quickly stamping down against the dry sod, ironic considering grass would normally be extremely harmful to the owner of said feet.

Greninja was making quick pace against the object that caught the attention of his eye. Most people would have never noticed it in the night, but being a natural Dark type does provide at least a slightly better degree of night vision than some other people and Pokémon which was just what Greninja needed to spot a circling group of fireflies in the distance. With his speed it took him less than a minute to arrive at his destination where he came to a sudden holt.

"Well-well-well. What do we have here?" Greninja rhetorically asked himself as he stared at the scene.

Lying down under the firefly swarm were two familiar teenage girls. One a silver eyed weapon enthusiast with a distinguishable red hood. The other an old acquaintance with a pink bow in her hair.

Ruby turned her head to her friend. "You know Penny, you're a lot like these fireflies."

Penny rotated her head to see Ruby. "I am? How so?"

"You light up my life." Ruby answered stretching her arm out."

Penny's face lit up and she happily extended her arm to take Ruby's hand. "Aw, Ruby."

The light of the fireflies was suddenly eclipsed by Greninja's head hovering above the girls. "Oh, aren't you two just precious."

Ruby and Penny's eyes widened at the sudden interruption of the Ninja Pokémon, making the two reactively leaned up.

"WHAT?! GRENINJA?!" Ruby loudly shouted making the fireflies scatter throughout the air.

"That's my name don't wear it out." Greninja casually pulled his head back, staring down at the two girls. "Gotta say Ruby sneaking out late at night, aren't you bad? And as for you-" Greninja pointed at Penny who was still processing what was happening. "Long time no see it's been what? Twenty-seven? Twenty-nine-ish chapters since we last saw each other."

Ruby quickly got to her feet and frantically waved her arms about. "I- I um- I can explain everything!"

Greninja tapped his foot. "Well I'm waaaaaiting."

"Right! The thing is…" Ruby twiddled her fingers before pointing up with a mental light bulb above her head. "This person may look like Penny. But it's really her twin sister, er… Polly."

"Polly?" Penny repeated in confusion at her new identity.

"Yeah! Polly." Ruby went over to Penny encouraging her to play along.

"Oh really? So how did you two meet?" Greninja asked.

"Meet?! Well we met erm… we met when I bumped into her in the city."

"Oh _really!_ Golly gee that sounds just like how you met Penny. My what a coincidink." Greninja playfully messed around with Ruby, getting a cathartic feeling from watching her struggle. Eventually Greninja showed mercy and relaxed. "Come on Ruby this is me we're talking about. You really think I'm in any real position to snitch?"

Ruby began to relax and settled down. "Yeah I guess you're right."

"Plus, you're a terrible liar."

Ruby puffed up her cheeks in defence. "Yeah! Well! I thought it was pretty good!"

"In what world? Let me tell you not mine and not this one." Greninja stepped around Ruby and towards Penny. "Hey what's wrong you don't have a little me in your throat, do you?"

"I… do not understand what you mean when you say a little you in my throat?" Penny cautiously answered back.

"You know like the saying _'you got a Froakie in your-'_ "

"Greninja!"

Greninja, Ruby and Penny witnessed Aegislash finally arriving making Greninja sigh and cross his front legs.

"Great. Here comes the fun police." Greninja huffed.

Aegislash hovered over to Greninja with her single eye narrowed and her cloth arms crossed. "Well. Just what was so important that you would just leisurely abandon the task that Sire had assigned us."

Greninja gestured his front foot at the girls diverting Aegislash's attention. "I'll give you two guesses."

Aegislash dismissively looked in the direction Greninja was pointing and her eye widened, her stance softening. "Lady Ruby? You too are out late at this time as well? As well as…" Aegislash eyed Penny up and down.

Penny looked back at Aegislash unsure of her position or what to do before Ruby stepped forward.

"It's okay Penny. Aegislash is a friend, she's just like Greninja." Ruby explained.

"I wish." Greninja joked.

"Penny…? Wait are you the Lady Penny whom Sire bumped into and later helped fight alongside him weeks ago at the docks?" Aegislash slowly realised.

"I do not know this Sire which you speak of, but if you are referring to my acquaintance Kai Emblem then I may be who you're talking about." Penny confirmed.

Aegislash blinked at Penny before bowing towards her. "Forgive me for not first thanking you for your assistance. Sire and his allies have spoken fondly of their brief but meaningful encounters with you."

"Your appreciation is noted but I really didn't do anything. I'm nothing particular special-Hiccup!" Penny hiccupped mid-sentence.

"Do not think less of yourself Lady Penny you valiantly volunteered to assist meagre strangers in need. That alone is special." Aegislash lifted herself back up. "And do please forgive our interruption, I'm afraid myself and Greninja have been tasked with finding Talonflame. Come along Greninja."

"Fiiiiine." Greninja moaned. "Let's pick this up again next time alright."

Greninja playfully pushed Penny in the arm. Unfortunately, Penny wasn't expecting such an action which caused her to be put off balance and trip up. Her arms outstretched as she crashed into Aegislash, creating the sound of clanging metal when the two collided onto the ground.

Greninja just awkwardly blinked in response of his actions. "…Oops."

Ruby helped Penny up while Aegislash used her cloth hands to push herself back into a floating position.

"Greninja! Honestly how foolish are you?!" Aegislash frustratingly yelled.

"What?! I said oops!" Greninja defended.

Aegislash grunted but regained composure, after all it was not the way of a knight to hold a grudge. She turned to see Ruby helping Penny back on her feet, the two staring with shock at Penny's hands.

"Is something the matter? Did you injure yourself against my sharpened body?" Aegislash sincerely asked.

Ruby looked at Aegislash, panic evident on her face. "What? Oh no it's nothing. Just a scratch."

Penny followed Ruby's lead. "Yes. It's nothing-Hiccup! My hands are perfectly intact-Hiccup!"

Aegislash was unconvinced and floated towards the two girls, grasping Penny's arms. "Are you sure? If I in some way caused this then I would like to help resolve it. Especially with something as serious as bodily harm. Now let me see."

"Don't!" Ruby shouted.

But it was too late. Aegislash had managed to pull Penny's hands towards her, giving her a clear view of her palms. The sight of which at first made her scrunch her eye in the dark before widening in surprise.

"Lady Penny…?"

Greninja stricken with curiosity peeked over, and his eyes too widened at what he saw. Penny's skin had a large cut pulling it back. But underneath there was not flesh or blood but…metal.

"Metal hands…?" Greninja whispered when suddenly a memory hit him.

 _Lucario held a paw under his chin. "From the moment Master bumped into her something about her aura has seemed off…"_

 _"_ _Off?"_

 _"_ _It is difficult to explain but it seems… Unnatural, fabricated if you will."_

 _"_ _Fabricated? … You've lost me."_

 _"_ _In simplest terms, it's almost as if her aura was telling me that she was… Made for combat."_

 _"_ _Made… So, like a robot?"_

 _"_ _Absolutely not." Lucario shot down. "That would be ridiculous!"_

"Wait… Penny are you… a robot?" Greninja seriously asked.

The question was left unanswered as the two Huntresses and two Pokémon stayed as silent as the night.

* * *

In the garden pavilion Weiss was in the middle of her singing once more. The notes of her song correlating with the swift precise movements she making as though she were skating in synch with the song.

" _Mirror what's this thing I see? Who is staring back at me? A stranger to my heart has filled my mind~ Mirror~ Help me~ Who am I?"_ Weiss sang the final notes of the song and slowed down and stood in place, taking a bow in front of an imaginary crowd.

She lifted her head back up and took a breath, replenishing the air that she expended holding those particular high notes. A weak night time gust brushed past her feet making the Huntress in training momentarily shudder, a simple sign that now was the time to return to her dorm for the night. Taking her first steps outside the pavilion a quiet scraping was heard making her cautiously pause. Had it been any other time the sound would have been drowned out but right now in the silence of darkness it could be heard. Weiss cautiously took another step forward eyeing the surroundings, noticing a low wall in the direction where the sound came from. Was she just being paranoid? Maybe. But typically, when a Huntsman or Huntress felt something nearby it normally was. Pointing her fore and middle fingers above the wall she created a black glyph that span in place pulling air and dust towards itself and then…

"Wooooah!" Kai bellowed into the night as his young adult frame was pulled into the snowflake shaped glyph and held like a Psychic type using Telekinesis. He frantically looked around for help only to gaze at Weiss scowling at him. "Oh hey Weiss. You're still here, what a coincidence."

Weiss remained unimpressed, flicking her fingers away to make the glyph dissipate. Kai momentarily hung in mid-air until he gulped and plummeted to the ground making a loud thud. Weiss impatiently walked over to where he landed and stared down at his limp spread out body.

"And just what do you think you're doing still being here?!" She demanded.

Kai slowly got to his feet and stretched his back. "Well… I thought maybe you're singing would attract Talonflame to-" Weiss's icy look stopped Kai in the middle of his excuse. "Not falling for that huh? Guess I still have a thing or two to learn about making up lies on the spot."

"Stop dodging the question! Explain yourself! Now!" Weiss insisted.

"Okay. Okay. I just… I really liked hearing your singing. You're more than just good you're… amazing Weiss. Really and I just wanted to hear more of it."

Weiss huffed and turned away from Kai, slowly making her way away. "Unbelievable. You don't see me eavesdrop on you and your Pokémon when you're training."

"Well I wouldn't mind if you did. I was quiet. I stayed out of view. I swear I wasn't watching you, I only listened. Besides it was just some songs? It's not like it's anything important?"

Weiss stopped in her tracks going stiff. The atmosphere around her going cold. "Just some songs…" Weiss turned around looking at Kai with a fury behind her eyes. "Those weren't just some songs! They were my songs! Songs that I wrote! Songs that I performed! Each lyric was a part of me! A private part of me! A part that was the only way I could express my frustrations and feelings about myself! About my life! And about my family!"

Kai stared back at Weiss with a shocked and sympathetic look. "I… I had no idea… Weiss…"

"Don't say anything! You've already done enough. Just leave me alone. Only this time I mean it!" Weiss marched away but this time Kai didn't follow instead he just grunted and slapped himself on the head.

"You idiot! She told you to leave but you didn't! But you had to think about yourself, didn't you?! You couldn't just leave her be! You of a people should have respected her privacy! And now you've gone and hurt her feelings! Great job Kai, some friend you are!" He yelled out in frustration slumping to the ground. "How am I meant to fix this? Can I even fix it?"

As if on cue with Kai's outcry a warm breeze blew down over him. Kai turned his head to the side to see Talonflame perched on the wall next to him.

"So, this is where you've been hanging out." Talonflame casually grunted.

"Funny I could ask you the same thing." Kai remarked before looking down. "So how much of that did you hear?"

Talonflame flew down in front of Kai. "Enough. Honestly, I don't know why you're the one being upset. She's being the unreasonable one here."

"I invaded her privacy. I was being selfish. That's why."

"Really? Because all I saw was some self-conscious brat who yelled at the one guy praising her talent Pretty petty if you ask me."

"Well emotions are complicated. I shouldn't have even been here anyway, I should have been looking for you. Speaking of where have you been?! You know I worry if you don't come back on time!"

Talonflame prodded his beak closer to Kai's nose. "I was late because of that idiots' stupid ships! And by the way I've been spending minutes in the dorm with little miss sleeping beauty because you weren't there!"

"Sleeping beauty what are you-?" A switch went in her head as Kai connected the dots. "Oh. I guess I should have expected Robin getting exhausted and falling asleep. She does sleep like a log." Kai got to his feet and took a breath. "Still I wish I could make up with Weiss somehow."

"I still think she should apologise for you. She's the one keeping her talent a secret."

"Talent… Talent…" Kai's eyes suddenly widened in revelation. "That's it! I listened to Weiss perform so if perform in the talent show we'll be even."

"Really and what would you-?" This time it was Talonflame's turn to connect the dots making him scrunch his face. "You aren't seriously going to-"

"Yep."

"Despite telling us for years how badly it went the last time you attempted doing it in front of a crowd."

Kai gulped at the awkward memory. "I remember."

"And you're sure about this?"

Kai didn't answer immediately taking a moment to consider his options. "… If it means getting even with Weiss… sure. I mean it can't be as bad as last time, right?"

"You tell me Kai. You tell me." Talonflame persisted, as Kai was slowly beginning to pale with what he was going to do.

* * *

Back at the field Greninja and Aegislash stared back and forth at Ruby and Penny. The four of them still trying to comprehend the secret that Greninja just revealed.

"What?! Robot?! Penny?! I mean look at her, does she look like grey and stiff?" Ruby flailed about trying to deny the accusation.

"You do realise we're not gonna tell anyone right?" Greninja pointed out.

"And if she's a robot then shouldn't she be beeping and booping all over the place and-" Ruby paused in an awkward pose. "Wait, you're not going to say anything?"

"Given our own private situation here, it would be rather hypocritical and callous of us to reveal such a secret." Aegislash informed.

Ruby quickly regained proper posture and sighed in relief. "Phew, that's a relief. I don't think I could have kept that up."

"Pretty sure you didn't have it up in the first place." Greninja bluntly stated.

"Well at least I tried!"

"Forgive me for interrupting your childish spat, but if I may intrude. Why have you gone to such lengths to hide your meetings. I'm sure your team would understand taking time out of your day to converse with Lady Penny." Aegislash pointed out.

"Actually, it's because of me." Penny answered. "Back when Ruby first found out, I had her promise not to tell anyone that we had spoken with one another. I did not wish for her to tell anyone this time either." Penny answered.

"About that, how exactly did you find out Lady Ruby? If you don't mind me asking." Aegislash asked.

Ruby nervously giggled. "Well it was sort of during our investigation a few days ago. I was meant to join Weiss at the CCT but then I spotted Penny, then I followed her into town, then we ran away from some soldiers and I almost got hit by a truck but Penny stopped it with her bare hands and then well…"

* * *

 **4 days earlier…**

 _In a deserted alleyway with a graffiti-marked dumpster Penny ran to a holt, looking around desperately to find somewhere to run away to._

 _"Penny! Come back!" Ruby called out, running into the alley with her._

 _"Um... Uh... "_

 _Ruby ran up to Penny finally catching up with her. The amount of running she had done beforehand leaving her exasperated._

 _"Penny! Please! What is going on?! Why are you running? How did you_ _do_ _that?!"_

 _ **"**_ _I-I can't! Everything's fine! Hiccup!" Penny began to hiccup. "I-I don't want to talk about it! Hiccup!"_

 _"_ _Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I can help you!"_

 _Penny nervously backed away from Ruby. "No! No, no! You wouldn't understand..."_

 _"Let me_ _try_ _! You can trust me!"_

 _Realising Ruby wouldn't leave her alone, Penny finally relented and desperately went up to Ruby's face. "You're my friend, right? You promise you're my friend?!"_

 _"I promise."_

 _Penny went silent, then glanced her head down at her hands. "Ruby... I'm not a real girl._

 _Penny uncurled her hands showing Ruby the toll of stopping the truck that would have killed her. Parts of her Penny's skin was ripped away, revealing not flesh but grey metal underneath._

 _"_ _Oh…" Ruby took a minute taking in what Penny had told her. "Penny, I-I don't understand..." Ruby muttered in confusion._

 _ **"**_ _Most girls are born, but I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura." Penny turned her head to the side looking glumly at the ground. "I'm not real..."_

 _Penny clenched her fists, the sight of which had her white gloves torn to reveal grey metal where her skin would be._

 _Ruby then took clasped Penny's hands, around her own. "Of course, you are. You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?"_

 _ **"**_ _I don't... um..." Penny paused, leaning closer towards Ruby's face. "You're... taking this_ _extraordinarily_ _well."_

 _"_ _You're not like those things we saw back there." Ruby poked her chest which made a metallic clunking sound with each tap. "You've got a heart, and a soul; I can feel it!"_

 _Penny processed Ruby's kind words and threw her arms over her shoulders. "_ _Ooohh... oh Ruby!" She pushed herself and Ruby together, shoving the side of Ruby's head into her chest to embrace her in an affectionate hug, complete with rocking her side to side. "You're the best friend anyone could have!"_

 _"_ _I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower!" Ruby muffled underneath Penny's iron grip._

 _At the mention of her father, Penny let Ruby go and pushed her away. "Oh, he's_ _very_ _sweet! My father's the one that built me! I'm sure you would_ _love_ _him!"_

 _"_ _Wow." Ruby giggled at Penny's returning optimism. "He built you all by himself?_

 _ **"**_ _Well, almost! He had some help from_ _Mr. Ironwood_ _."_

 _"_ _The General?! Wait... Is that why those soldiers were after you?"_

 _"_ _They like to protect me, too!"_

 _Ruby scoffed. "_ _They don't think you can protect yourself?"_

 _"_ _They're not sure if I'm ready yet... One day, it will be_ _my_ _job to save the world, but I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the_ _Vytal Festival_ _. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the Tournament."_

 _"_ _Penny, what are you talking about? Save the world from_ _what_ _? We're in a time of peace!"_

 _"_ _That's not what Mr. Ironwood said..."_

 _Penny questioned Ruby but before the conversation could continue, the sound of an approaching Atlesian soldier interrupted the girls and drew their attention down the alley._

 _Penny turned to Ruby and grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. "You have to hide!"_

 _Quickly placing her arms around Ruby's hips, Penny effortlessly carried her over her head while Ruby flailed and struggled pointlessly._

 _ **"**_ _Penny, wait! What are you doing? You don't have to go with them! I can help you!" Ruby cried out while she swung her arms ahead of her as if she was attempting to swim through the air._

 _Penny approached the nearby dumpster and threw Ruby in along with the trash. With Ruby safely inside, Penny opened the lid just enough so that they could still talk. "It's okay, Ruby. They're not bad people; I just don't want to get_ _you_ _in trouble. Just_ _promise_ _me you won't tell anyone else my secret. Okay?"_

 _Penny eyed Ruby down giving her a serious, gravely stare._

 _"_ _I promise." Ruby_ _lowered her head into the garbage as the lid is put down. Seconds later the guards arrived at the scene and spotted Penny. Their declaration tempting Ruby to lift up the dumpster lid a little to peek at the scene outside._

 _"_ _Sal-u-tations, officers!" Penny greeted two Atlesian soldiers dressed up in white hi-tech armour with advanced rifles on their hips._

 _"_ _Why were you running? And what happened to the other girl?" The first soldier asked urgently._

 _"_ _What_ _girl_ _? I've been by myself all day!" Penny randomly hiccupped but immediately smiled brightly at the soldiers as if nothing had happened._

 _ **"**_ _You shouldn't cause such a scene."_

 _"_ _Are you okay?" The second soldier asked,_

 _Penny_ _s_ _howed off her "injured" palms to the two._ _"Just a scratch."_

 _"_ _Penny, your father isn't going to be happy about this." The first soldier explained._

 _"_ _Please, just come with us." The second soldier added._

 _"_ _Yes, sir!" Penny obeyed._

 _Penny and the soldiers are heard walking away as Ruby look on in sadness... until a rat screeched from below her feet, causing the young Huntress to fall and close the lid on herself._

* * *

"…and yeah. That's basically how I found out." Ruby finished.

Greninja crossed his front legs. "So, let me get this straight. The same general that lost a mech also can't keep control of a teenage girl bot. That is hilarious and admittedly concerning for the kingdom of Atlas. Good thing we're in Vale."

"Be serious Greninja. This is a very personal matter for Lady Penny. Understanding one's identity and purpose is not an easy task." Aegislash chastised.

"It is alright I know who I am and I am proud to serve my kingdom but…" Penny looked down at her hands just as damaged as when Ruby found out. "I do sometimes wish that I could be a real girl."

Penny felt a comforting sensation around her arms, from a surprising source.

"But you are a real girl." Aegislash stated in a much softer tone than usual. "It matters not that you were designed for combat, you are who you choose to be. Look at me for instance; a spirit placed in a sword. My purpose was to find a trainer and fight by their side, following their orders and using me however they see fit… but I was blessed with finding my Sire who gave me much more than I could have ever hoped to dream. Who made me realise that though I am a knight… I am also a friend, family a cherished being who deserves love as any other would."

Greninja heard Aegislash's feelings and felt his light-hearted appearance soften. "Aegislash…"

Penny's face began to calm and she smiled brightly at Aegislash. "Oh, thank you! I thought I would never know someone else who would know how I would feel!" Penny wrapped her arms around Aegislash's frame only for them to phase through the Royal Sword Pokémon.

"Apologies Lady Penny. No matter how I see myself there are some physical parts of me that cannot be avoided." Aegislash apologised.

The atmosphere of the night was calm and warm, and was only about to get even warmer. A swift gust blew over the four making embers dance with the fireflies in the sky.

"There you two are." Talonflame groaned.

"Well what do you know. I made someone feel better _and_ found the bird brain by me messing around. Guess someone owes me an apology." Greninja exclaimed.

"Seriously how do you all keep finding us?! This was meant to be private!" Ruby cried out.

"Yeah I don't care. Right now, all that matters is finding something for Kai." Talonflame explained.

"Something for Sire? At this time? Whatever could he want?" Aegislash asked.

Talonflame walked up to Greninja and Aegislash and whispered something to them, making their eyes widen and their expressions become confused.

"Really? After all the times he's told us he was never going to do that." Greninja remarked.

"I thought he was crazy too. But it's what he wants."

"I'm sorry what does Kai want?" Ruby asked.

Talonflame sighed. "It's a long story."

* * *

Time went by in a blur and soon it had been two full weeks since term had started, leading up to the fated day of Beacon's talent show. The time between had certainly been… odd between certain individuals. Weiss hardly acknowledged Kai giving him the silent treatment, an action but one that wasn't too out of character for Weiss to be called out for. Similarly, Ruby would often be seen asking Kai about something only for him to awkwardly change the subject or try to ignore her. And Kai himself developed a strange routine of leaving the dorm at night, telling Robin one excuse or another. Not that she paid much attention since a few minutes after he would leave, she would drift off to sleep. Either way something was definitely going to happen at this talent show, with Kai in the centre of it.

The Amphitheatre was currently packed and being used to hold the talent show in question. Crowds of people were standing on the stadium floor while the smaller upper floor podium was used for performers to display their talent for all to see.

"And now for my last trick I'll need a volunteer from the audience." Jaune declared from the upper platform.

He stood dressed in his regular Huntsman attire only with the addition of a cape and top hat reminiscent of stereotypical magicians. As he stared down at the audience, he saw a stagnant crowd unimpressed by the tricks he had performed thus far.

"Anyone… anyone at all…"

Jaune nervously grinned showing his teeth as he hoped someone would help him with his grand exit.

A sudden hand pooped up amongst the crowd. "Sure! I'd love to!"

The people around the hand spread out revealing the volunteer was none other than his partner, Pyrrha Nikos. The students stepped aside allowing Pyrrha to step through them unopposed as she made her way up on stage by Jaune's side.

With Jaune performing his trick on stage certain members of the captive audience quietly turned to each other and whispered.

"The two of them look happy on stage at least." Yang stated finding the best compliment she could find.

Robin sighed to herself. "This is a complete waste of time. I need all the spare time I can get to study so I can catch up. Instead here I am wasting my time on… this?"

"Aw come on he's not that bad." Nora defended.

Jaune was on stage gesturing Pyrrha to enter a long wooden box with head and leg holes. Pyrrha entered and pushed her head out of one end and her legs out of the other. Her shiny, plastic-like, bare, clean shaven, red high-heel wearing legs. Despite the less than subtle magic box Jaune carried on with the trick by dramatically bringing out not a saw, but his signature Crocea Mors sword.

"Ladies and gentlemen with a nervous disposition please turn away now! The sight you are about to see may be too shocking for you to witness without blacking out!" Jaune dramatically declared.

"Okay maybe he is that bad." Nora admitted.

"There's no point complaining about it now. After all this is a mandatory event, you should just try to relax and enjoy the show." Ren suggested.

"I'll enjoy the show when there's some actual talent." Robin looked around looking towards Ruby in a realisation. "Wait? If this event is mandatory then where's that other teammate of yours? The one with the bow."

"You mean Blake? She sort of decided that she didn't really want to come. Even if it means getting in trouble." Ruby awkwardly answered.

"And she can just do that?"

Ruby shrugged her shoulders. "Blake's always been one to do what she wants. All we can do is support her."

"Aren't you the team leader though? Shouldn't she have to do what you say?"

"I mean… well…"

Weiss suddenly stepped in intervening the situation. "Ruby may be our leader, but that doesn't me she can blindly order us around."

"Yeah, besides. You're just mad you didn't have the guts to ditch this thing like she did." Yang taunted.

Robin looked back towards the act on stage. "You know if you're leader was the one who said that, then maybe it would've swayed me."

Jaune finished his routine by revealing _'magically'_ putting the two box halves back together and having Pyrrha step out unharmed. The audience weakly applauded as the two took a bow and step off stage allowing Professor Port to step on.

"Yes give a hand for the um…" Port looked at a piece of paper in his hand. "The Amazing Jaune! You know we could all use a magic in our lives these days in fact that act reminds me of a story where I blah, blah, blah, blah…"

"Besides here you are talking about teammates and Kai isn't here. Care to explain how you can't control his rude actions?" Weiss asked with a hint of spite.

"Kai isn't my teammate. We just happen to share a room because we're the only people here who come from a different world." Robin looked up in thought. "Although now that you mentioned it, he did say he was coming this morning. He specifically mentioned the talent show and he seemed a little anxious about it."

"Anxious? Why would Kai be anxious?" Weiss asked herself.

The people in front suddenly began to ebb and flow back and forth as Jaune and Pyrrha waded through them.

"Hey guys! So… what did you think?" Jaune asked.

"…" The group stayed quiet not really knowing how to respond.

"It was… certainly a bold choice. But your presentation skills were quite stiff." Robin finally critiqued.

Jaune groaned. "I knew it! It was all because of that guy in the stands glaring at me the whole time!"

"What guy in the stands? Everyone's standing down here?" Ren curiously asked.

Jaune pointed up into the dark stands above the lit floor. "Up there see? There's someone there."

Everyone looked up to see a rather lumpy silhouette that was just barely distinguishable amongst the shadows above. It was wide and misshaped all throughout. Some parts were tall, others short. Some parts looked like large circles while another part limply flopped about the side, flapping gently from a draft like a scarf in the wind. With one section looking down from higher up than the others emitting a faint spark periodically.

"I think I do see something. But it doesn't look like a person." Ruby admitted.

"It almost looks like…" Yang trailed off.

"Don't tell me that those are…" Robin began to say.

On the stage Port cleared his throat. "And let's just say that was one rabbit that should have stayed in the top hat if you know what I mean. Now for this next act put your hands together for…!" Port checked the sheet of paper in his hands again. "Kai Emblem!"

The nine teenagers all stared back at the stage instinctually at Kai's name, as he slowly walked up to the centre with a microphone in his hands.

"Ugh Hum! Hello every-!" The microphone suddenly gave off a loud feedback of noise making everyone cover their ears. "Ah huh. Sorry about that. Is everyone doing okay tonight?"

From appearances alone Kai did not seem healthy. His skin was pale, a couple beads of sweat were by the sides of his face and his legs subtly shivered.

"What is Kai doing up there? He normally hates getting all the attention for himself unless it's a sparring match." Pyrrha asked the group.

"I'm not sure but he certainly doesn't look right up there." Yang bluntly commented.

"He's totally gonna throw up!" Nora uproared.

Kai was slowly taking breaths in and out to settle his nerves when his eyes spotted his regular group of friends. With his eyes set on one in particular showing confusion but little to no concern.

"Before I begin let's just say that this performance is dedicated to a certain…someone that I've wronged. I stuck my nose in something personal of yours and I'm sorry. So, to make it up to you… I'm sharing something personal of mine with you."

Kai signalled offstage signalling someone else forward. None other than Penny who was carrying an incredibly large draped object with one hand over her head. The action of carrying such a large object making many people's jaws drop.

"Wait it's that girl from the city?!" Weiss realised.

"Yeah, the one who hit her head too hard." Yang remembered.

"I think I've seen her in some of my classes. She's from Atlas I think… you two know her?" Robin asked.

Secretly Ruby smiled having been somewhat aware that this was going to happen and that her two friends were able to help each other out.

Penny walked onto the stage and placed the object down gently before turning to Kai. "I have successfully brought the item you have requested."

Kai smiled back. "Thanks Penny, I owe you one."

"It was no trouble. I am happy to help out an acquaintance." Penny revealed a stool from her spare hand behind her back and placed it down before walking off the stage, disappearing amongst the crowds.

Kai sat down on the stool and whipped off the cover in dramatic motion revealing the item underneath. A piano.

Kai cracked his fingers and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "You can do this… just like riding a bike."

And with light pressure from his fingertips Kai played the first note.

 ** _[Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions – N's Farewell]_**

The first notes played were brief and spaced out building up everyone's breaths, before slowly making its way into the main melody. The main melody repeated itself once again entrancing the Beacon students who were listening to a song that had literally never before played in this world.

"This song… it's beautiful." Pyrrha whispered.

"Farewell…" Robin lightly muttered.

The group turned to her with curiosity abound.

"Farewell?" Ruby repeated.

"It's the name of the song. It's a classic piece of music from the Unova region. Apparently, it's about two friends who had to say goodbye to one another, but not before one of them told the other to chase their dream and to make it a reality. It's pretty well known." Robin explained.

"A song from your world." Weiss repeated quietly to herself.

Weiss stared around at the audience. Unlike Jaune's act where the audience was held captive Kai's left them captivated ash he slowly built up to the finale. Reaching a triumphant tune that carried its weight until Kai slowly finished playing the final few notes.

"…"

Silence filled the room as Kai remained seated. He panted in place looking out at the crowds of people.

 _CLAP_

A pair of webbed front feet began clapping themselves together.

 _CLAP CLAP_

Soon followed by a pair of wings and clothed arms.

 _CLAP CLAP CLAP_

Followed again by a pair of stubby and flat paws and a clapping pair of claws.

 _CLAP CLAP CLAP_

Finished off with a certain ice queen putting her hands together until…

 ** _CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!_**

The entire room began applauding loudly at Kai's performance. There was even some cheering and whistling added in as well. Kai's pale complexion suddenly burned red in the cheeks, not out of embarrassment this time but out of pride.

Port stepped up. "Well I'd ask you to give him a hand but it looks like you've already given him one for me. Give it up again for Kai Emblem!"

Kai finally stepped up and took a bow, seeing Weiss staring at him with a fond smile.

Kai gave a sigh of relief. "Phew… I fixed it."

* * *

With Kai's moment over many others performed their talents. Although none had managed to achieve quite the same applause as Kai, barring maybe one student from Atlas who could play a mean piece of brass. Kai was unable to join the others however so they could only keep their thoughts and questions to themselves until the show finally subsided. When it did Kai patiently waited outside in the hallway preparing for the inevitable.

"Doo-Doo-Doo. Doo-Doo-Doo. Doo-Doo. Doo-Doo. Doo-Doo-Doo~." Kai hummed to himself when his eyes finally caught sight of his friends approaching him. "So? Did you like my music?"

"Like it! You were amazing!" Ruby praised as she and everyone else got in close.

"Since when could you play piano like that?" Yang asked.

"I actually started taking lessons when I was six. I don't remember much of it but according to my parents if there was a toy instrument in front of me, I would always try to play it. Eventually my dad asked me if I wanted to actually learn to play and instrument, I said sure and here we are." Kai smiled in recollection before returning to a sombre expression. "The funny thing is I actually hadn't touched a piano for years, I'm lucky there just so happened to be one in the school for whatever reason and that I was able to find it with enough time to refamiliarize myself with it."

"So was that why you looked so pale when you were up there? You were worried you hadn't practiced enough." Ren asked.

Kai awkwardly fiddled with his fingers. "Not exactly. This may have been my… second time I've tried playing piano at a talent show. And the first time went badly."

"C'mon after hearing you play tonight; I doubt it was that bad." Yang consolidated.

"I froze on the spot. Played all the wrong notes. And when I went to leave after I was laughed off the stage, I accidently slammed the key cover over my fingers."

Yang's expression puckered at Kai's deadpan explanation. "Okay that did sound as bad as you made it sound."

"It was embarrassing and I didn't want to repeat it. Guess I got lucky tonight I guess."

"Well I don't believe in luck." Robin interrupted catching Kai's attention. You're a good pianist Kai, you should play more often."

Apparently, Robin wasn't the only one impressed as Weiss took another step closer to Kai.

Weiss took a step closer to Kai. "Even I have to admit your music was… good."

Kai raised a brow. "Just good?"

Weiss crossed her arms in a defensive position. "Okay fine it was… pretty amazing."

Nora looked sceptically at Weiss. "Who are you and what have you done with Weiss?"

"What? Is it a crime to give positive feedback to something that I enjoyed?"

"No. But identity theft is whoever you are!"

Weiss just huffed. "Well that's the last time I open myself to giving compliments if you're going to act like that."

Kai smirked. "Guess I should be honoured I was given the last one."

With the night waning away, the group slowly began walking off to head back into their respective dorms to get some shut eye.

"That being said why did a Huntsman academy have a piano on campus anyway?" Robin asked as they all walked off.

"I have no clue actually. Best guess is that there's a hidden gun or something inside it, I don't know?" Kai joked.

"Hey I almost forgot Penny was with you, wasn't she? How did you find her?" Yang asked.

"Actually, the thing about that is…"

While Kai explained how his Penny decided to help Kai's Pokémon find him a piano, a lonely figure was against the wall hidden by the casting shadows. Blake watched on as she saw her newly made friends walking off down the hall creating a twinge sensation in her heart. She remained quiet as her amber eyes looked off to the side as she went down a different way with a book in her hands. Continuing her mission alone.

* * *

 **So it's been a while huh.**

 **I am sorry that I have made you all wait this long believe me I've been kicking myself about it. Through life, procrastination or me not thinking the quality of my writing has been good enough this has been a long time coming. This chapter also happens to be the last in the 'Tales of Beacon' Arc. Between introducing all the characters to each other, revealing more information about my OC's and cannon characters as well as having some fun along the way, I hope you didn't mind the slower pace.**

 **As for the next arc I doubt that you'll see it any time soon. But the good news is that the idea of the arc has been bubbling away in my mind ever since this story began so hopefully when it's done you'll be as happy with it as I am with it in my head.**

 **So until that day arrives, this is Kallerston signing out!**


	43. Chapter 40: Into the wild

**-Afternoon, Beacon Academy-**

The sparks of conflict flashed brightly as metal and aura were put to the test against each other. On one side was an average run of the mill Huntsman in training attempting to win a losing battle. On the other was a much more peculiar site, an animal not native to the planet it was currently residing on being led by a trainer who was the furthest possible thing from average.

Kai swept his arm outwards. "Alright Lucario! Knock him off balance!"

The order reached the Pokémon who was currently locked with the previous Huntsman in a battle of arms. His bone shaped aura construct, and his steel longsword. Lucario felt the Huntsman's aura feel the strain to keep up the struggle. A feeling he exploited by abruptly making his move dissipate.

The Huntsman gasped as the sudden change in resistance made him throw all his weight on his sword's downward swing making him topple forward.

Kai smirked. " **Use Power-Up-Punch!** "

Lucario lunged forward off his feet and lowered his right paw, cloaking it in an orange aura. He could briefly feel his opponents fear of the inevitable right before he dealt a rising blow to his falling jawline. The Huntsman teeth snapped together as the blow sent him backwards into the air before slamming onto the cold hard ground.

Lights flicked on in the Amphitheatre to signal the end of the sparring match and Kai's victory. The large monitor on the wall highlighted the difference in aura with the Huntsman in training's aura being red and in the single digits and Kai's being green and full, completely untouched.

"And that's the match." Glynda Goodwitch announced walking closer towards the upper seats filled with students from Beacon and Haven. "Now I know today's class is about to end but I need to remind you all that applications for the Vytal festival tournament will be opened within the next few weeks. Any teams who wish to participate will need to have all members attain at least sixty percent or higher in the practice exams at the end of the semester so be sure to keep your grades up. Secondly and more urgently is the reminder of the 3-day excursion to the National Eden Reserve coming up next week. This trip is mandatory for all first-year students and will count for five percent of your final grade, so you better be prepared."

The school bell went and everyone began to exit the room in the disorganised manner you would expect from teenagers who would have somewhere to be. Goodwitch looked around the lowered amphitheatre seeing Kai return his Lucario to his Pokéball and walk out of the room like everyone else. She looked once more back at Kai's aura displayed on the screen before it turned off and went to black.

 _'He really has improved drastically since the beginning of the year. From giving up and losing confidence then to now where he can achieve a flawless victory and even beat a second year.'_ Goodwitch thought.

Her mind began to trail to a meeting she had with Ironwood a couple of weeks ago. One where she witnessed the same Pokémon Kai used in a match just now on an entirely different level of power.

 _"So, tell me this, if you his combat instructor hasn't realised that one of your students has been holding back this entire time… Then how much more do you think he's managed to hide behind your back?"_

Ironwood's words of doubt slowly began to haunt the teacher before shaking her head and snapping out of her thoughts.

 _'No. Kai Emblem may not be from here, but he is still just a boy. He's no different from any other student that I've taught.'_ Goodwitch reasoned to herself as she herself began to leave the room. _'Well normal barring the obvious exceptions of course.'_

* * *

Outside the Amphitheatre in the school hallways, unaware that he was currently the subject of his teacher's thoughts, Kai Emblem walked down one of Beacon's hallways with his friends from Team's RWBY and JNPR. All of them were looking ahead while they were chatting with one another barring Blake who seemed more concerned with reading an article on her scroll.

"Man, you made that look easy out there Kai!" Yang complimented.

"That? You're giving me too much credit. All I did was use my semblance to dodge and reposition, Lucario was the one who did all the heavy lifting. I still have a way to go in terms of fighting on my own." Kai modestly replied.

"Don't sell yourself short Kai. If you keep up this rate of progress you could easily enter the Vytal festival." Ren explained.

Kai scoffed. "I know I've been getting more open with showcasing my team over time but I don't think revealing an undiscovered alien species on international television is a good idea yet. It's bad enough having to deal with people badgering me about here in school."

"People have been asking you about your team?" Jaune asked.

"You think you guys were the only people curious enough to ask? I've been telling people the same story I told you about how I _'found them in wild_ ' and how _'the only reason no one else knows about them is because they don't know where to look'_ since my first week. And with new exchange students arriving at the beginning of this semester it's only gotten worse. I'm starting to get a little worried people might figure out the truth if I don't get home soon."

Ruby walked closer and gained his attention. "Hey I promised you that I'd help get you home and I intend to keep that promise. I'll make sure that by the time people have realised who you are, you'll be back home sipping hot coco in your pyjamas."

Kai smiled. "Thanks Ruby. Also I drink hot chocolate not coco. Coco is too bitter for my tastes."

"I hope you're not talking about me over there."

Kai turned around to see Coco Adel and the rest of the team walking up behind them. Everyone else turned around as well with the exception of Blake who needed a second to realise everyone was looking somewhere else before she too turned around, her attention still almost solely on her scroll.

"It's bad enough you already sullied my rep, now you're talking trash about me behind my back." Coco finished.

"Coco?" Kai quickly waved his hands in front of his face defensively. "I swear I wasn't talking about you! I was talking about chocolate themed drinks! Honest!"

Coco chuckled as she walked closer to everyone. "I'm just messing with you. I know what you were really talking about."

Kai relaxed his hands and sighed in relief until he stiffened up. "Wait? How much did you hear?"

"I pointed you out after I overheard you say something about the transfer students. Did you say something important before that?" Velvet answered while her and her two teammates joined their leader.

For the second time in a minute Kai exhaled in relief. "No. Nothing that important."

 _'That was a close one. I've gotten so comfortable around these guys that I've forgotten they're the only ones that know the truth. I need to be more careful.'_ Kai thought reflecting on his close call.

"So what's been happening with you guys?" Velvet asked the group.

Yang shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing much. It's been super boring."

"At least we have the field trip coming up next week and the school dance the week after that." Pyrrha explained.

"This school trip coming up, it wouldn't happen to be to the Eden's reserve would it?" Coco asked.

"Yeah. How did you know?" Jaune asked in surprise.

"Maybe because they've done everything we've done and are about to do last year." Weiss answered.

"Okay when you put it like that it seems obvious."

Velvet shuddered in place. "I remember when we went. The thought of it still gives me chills."

Kai saw the shuddering Velvet and felt a wave of concern wash over his body. "Velvet are you alright?"

Velvet looked up to Kai in response. "Huh? Oh yeah, it's just…"

Velvet didn't finish her sentence and went stiff, only managing to relax when her teammate Fox placed an assuring hand on her shoulder. The first-years barring Blake were starting to get a little freaked out at Velvet's body language, getting noticed by Coco who just sighed.

"Look we don't mean to freak you out but let's just say our experience on the trip wasn't exactly the best one." Coco tipped her sunglasses further above her nose so that everyone could see her eyes. "But don't worry about it, nothing happened, not really anyway."

"If you guys say so." Kai responded unconvinced.

Coco pushed her sunglasses back up. "Look we'd love to stick around and chat longer but we've got a lot to do. We've got a mission in a couple of weeks in Lower Cairn and we have got a _ton_ of things to get sorted before we leave. But we should still be here to help organise the dance."

"Oh, well if you have to leave then I guess we'll see you guys later." Ruby happily stated as team CFVY walked past them.

"Yeah… We'll see you all later." Velvet waved good bye before turning her head to her nearby teammates. "Is it really best not to tell them?"

"Nobody told us did they. Besides it's not like knowing in advance will do them any good, it's best we just let them enjoy the nights they have left."

Velvet didn't seem completely convinced but nodded in compliance. "If you're sure."

Velvet looked back one last time at her first-year friends as they walked off into the hallway before turning her back on them. The thoughts of what happened to her and her team last year still gnawing away at the back of her mind.

* * *

Elsewhere in an otherworldly occupied dorm, Robin was sitting on her bed with her legs dangling over the edge of the wooden fame. Currently residing in her hands was the thick green hardback copy of 'The Findings of a New World', her eyes scanning the old pages.

 ** _November 17_** ** _th_**

 ** _For the past couple of days I have been resting in Lacunosa Town, a town which has reminded me more than any other so far of Remnant. For this town has a famous legend where_** ** _a long time ago, a large meteor came from the sky containing a_** ** _terrifying monster_** ** _. At night the monster would appear in the town and take away humans and Pokémon to eat them. This forced the residents to surround the town in a wall to keep the monster out and for everyone's safety a rule was then set on the town that forbade anyone from leaving at night and encouraged people to stay in their homes. And while this rule has long since become superstition rather than law, it is still followed to this day. Such legends remind me of the Grimm and the efforts we take to protect ourselves. I had almost forgotten about their unbridled raw aggression and fear they bring after being free from them so long in this world, perhaps the monster that fell from the meteor was a Grimm. Most likely it wasn't but considering my own alien presence in this world, one can only wonder._**

Robin read the page over and over again, the handwritten words written down only serving to fill her with more and more feelings of frustration. Eventually Robin slammed the book shut and took a deep breath, placing it on top of the bookshelf at the side of the room. Moments later she could hear the sound of the door to the room being unlocked making her turn her head and witness Kai enter.

"Hey how was your day?" Kai sincerely asked.

"The usual. Yours?" Robin replied.

"The usual, more or less anyway." Kai walked over to his bed and fell flat on his back, sighing in relaxation. "Although there was one thing that was odd."

"Does it have to do with getting back to Kalos?"

Kai leaned up. "No."

Robin walked to her bed and lied on her side, her back facing Kai. "Then I don't care."

Kai awkwardly blinked, turning away. "Well… okay then…"

This was a pretty typical conversation between the two Kalos trainers since the two got acquainted with one another. Kai would attempt to start a conversation and if Robin wasn't interested she would shoot it down, with Kai being too polite or nervous to try and bring it back up. It wasn't the closest relationship two people could have but it was theirs.

The silence didn't last long however as soon after a flapping sound attracted Kai's attention to the window to see Talonflame flying back into the room. Talonflame stared at his trainer before passing a judgemental glance at Robin who didn't even bother turning around.

"Hmph! This is starting to get boring." Talonflame grunted flying onto Kai's bed.

"How come?" Kai asked while scratching the top of Talonflame's head.

"The scenery, I've seen it all before. It's gotten dull and repetitive, at this point the whole Capital just seems like one big bird cage."

Kai frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that Talonflame. I know how much you like to spread your wings." Kai's frown soon softened into a smile as he pulled his hand away from Talonflame's head. "Well lucky for you we've got a trip coming up soon. If you're good I might let you out while we're there, assuming you don't act like last time."

"That jerk had what I did to him coming!" Talonflame shouted defensively.

"I also had to keep you and everyone else inside your Pokéballs after that. And when I had to break that rule you were then taken off me when I was literally dropped into a monster infested forest."

Talonflame growled. "I'm still not sorry."

Kai pulled out Talonflame's Pokéball and returned him. "I know."

Kai put the Pokéball away and raised his head to see Robin glancing at him. When their eyes met Robin quickly turned her head away acting like she hadn't done anything.

"Okay what is it?" Kai moaned.

"It's nothing." Robin dismissed not even bothering to turn around to face Kai while she was talking to him.

"Look something caught your attention for a second. Was it me talking to Talonflame? Was it what we were talking about?"

Robin heaved, rolling onto her other side to speak to Kai face to face. "If it'll get you to be quiet. It's because you mentioned that field trip we have to go on. I… don't want to go. But I have to anyway, which is just perfect."

"You don't want to go? I thought you were already sick of this place." Kai pointed out.

Robin rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. "Can we just drop it now? Please."

"But why I mean what's the big-?"

"I said drop it!" Robin snapped before staring back at the ceiling.

Kai waited, hoping to continue the conversation but just followed Robin's example and stared at the ceiling. "If you don't want to talk about it sure."

The two just continued to lie on their beds, staring at the ceiling without saying another word.

* * *

At the top of Beacon's CCT, the clockwork mechanisms inside Ozpin's office spun together in unison as the headmaster patiently sat at his desk. Placing his hands around a mug of freshly poured coffee he raised the beverage upwards causing the rising steam to mist up his glasses. Blowing gently on the liquid he opened his lips and prepared to take a sip when a notification popped up, signalling an incoming visitor.

"Come in." Ozpin calmly greeted as he put down his mug.

The elevator doors opened allowing General Ironwood to enter the room and walk up to his fellow headmaster. "It took some convincing but I've managed to convince Penny's father into letting her attend your school field trip. On the condition that I also attend to keep a close eye on her."

"I'm sure Miss Polendina will be happy to hear that. I'll be sure to inform Glynda that you will be joining her. Although I question the need for you to tell me this in person." Ozpin responded.

"Seeing through me as usual, I guess no use not getting straight to the point." Ironwood looked at Ozpin while maintaining a neutral look. "I may not have been to Vale for quite some time but I can't help but notice that this Eden National Reserve hasn't been shown on any maps dating more than just over two years ago. Would you care to explain to me how this unknown piece of land just so happened to be discovered?"

Ozpin slowly nodded his head and put his scroll against the desk to reveal a holographic map of the kingdom. Several important areas where marked such as the capital city of the same name, Beacon to the east of it, the lone island marked Patch to the far west and interestingly the mountainous geographical area to the west of the city. The raised mountain area had two things marked down on it: a city to the south east labelled as 'Mountain Glenn' and an area in the northern parts of the mountains labelled as 'Eden National Reserve'.

"The Eden National Reserve hasn't been on any public records or geographical maps older than three years because simply put back then it didn't exist." Ozpin explained the situation as the map zoomed into the reserve giving it a more detailed view.

The reserve itself was surprisingly compact and surprisingly diverse. While the hologram couldn't show too many details it did reveal that the physical geography of the area was a plateau with a diverse eco-system. With the highest areas of the plateau being extremely rocky while the lowest areas at ground level had a thriving jungle.

"It has become a modern mystery that so far has been unsolved. Soil samples were tested for latent Dust formations, plant cuttings were taken to identify species and potential growth patterns, recording devices have been used to check for seismic activity and meteorological anomalies. Plenty has been done and is continuing to be done to identify just how the reserve came to be. So far despite what has been learnt only two clues to its creation have been discovered." The hologram disappeared giving Ozpin and Ironwood a clear view of each other. "The first is that this area was not created as a result of nature. It was cultivated."

"It was man-made?" Ironwood summarised.

"Essentially yes. But who created it, how they did it and why are still completely unknown."

"And the other discovery?"

Ozpin stepped up out of his seat to get on eye level. "It's been progressing at a rapid rate. Whatever created the reserve, it isn't quite finished with it yet."

The two headmasters went quiet as they processed the information before Ironwood began to slowly pace around the room.

"So then that would mean that this excursion that you've planned isn't for education… it's for discovery." Ironwood turned back to see Ozpin. "You're sending these students out there to investigate it."

Ozpin went for his coffee and picked it up in his hands. "This is a new opportunity James. For them and for the world as we know it. The unknown must be explored if we are to progress."

"The unknown is also something to be treated lightly. We cannot prepare for the unknown so if it comes, we may not be able to survive it." Ironwood walked up to the desk and leant onto his palms. "And you're sending children out there."

"No. I'll be sending the Huntsman of tomorrow out there. Huntsman of tomorrow who will be supervised by the Huntsman of today. By you, if what you told me before is correct. So, if you really are concerned you should be able to protect them."

"What about the potential threats? What about the Grimm?" Ironwood asked.

"Right. I suppose that's another thing we have discovered. Although even I can't be completely sure of it." Ozpin casually responded as he raised his mug.

"What are you talking about?"

Ozpin took a brief sip from his mug, before lowering it from his face. "That to the best of our knowledge it is the only known area of the world outside of the capitals… Where the Grimm do not exist."

For a brief moment Ironwood felt the world stop turning. His face no longer able to contain the shock he felt at that very moment. "The Grimm… don't exist…" Ironwood repeated in disbelief.

"Yes. Which is only made confusing by the reserve's most shocking discovery." Ozpin placed his coffee mug back down on his desk. "A discovery that has given the reserve the alternative nickname of the Nightmare Plateau."

* * *

Following the previous two duos came a single quartet. Team RWBY were sitting together in their dorm after a long day, each of them lying down on their respective beds doing their own thing. However, one of the girls couldn't rest due to the nagging sensation they felt after something they heard that day, an incoming field trip that they really didn't want to go on.

"Are we sure this field trip is really necessary?" Blake moaned from the bottom section of her bunk bed.

"I'm surprised you actually listened to that, considering you've kept your eyes squinted at your scroll all day." Weiss critiqued.

Ruby stuck her head out from the bedsheets hung over her bed. "Come on guys don't fight! Besides Blake it'll be fun. The four of us hanging out, no boring lectures, homework, or surprise tests to worry about."

"Sure Ruby. The world may be falling apart around us but at least we don't need to worry about schoolwork." Blake sarcastically responded.

"Do you really need to take that tone?" Weiss coldly remarked.

"What's it matter to you?" Blake got up from her bed and walked towards the door. "I'm going to the library. I'll probably be back late." Before Blake made it to the door Weiss stood up and blocked her way, the frustration clearly apparent on the two girls faces. "Weiss. Please move out of the way."

"No Blake. Not until you calm down. I thought we talked about this, we're all investigating the White Fang together. You don't need to keep pushing us away, we can help but only if you let us."

"Oh are we? Because last I checked ever since our investigation we haven't even left the campus." Blake narrowed her eyes. "You heard what Robin said, the White Fang are out there going after innocent people and here you all are, focusing more on what Professor Port tells us about going into action than doing it ourselves."

"You know it's not like that!"

"Then what is it like?!" Blakes sudden outburst made everyone in the room flinch and stare at her with deep concern.

"Blake…" Ruby whispered.

Blake just stared at Weiss with an even more annoyed look. "Weiss… Let me through."

Weiss matched Blake's glare with one of her own, one icy cold and the other overcast in a serious shadow. Until eventually Weiss broke eye contact and walked off to the side, allowing Blake to open the door and leave the room with no one making a sound the entire exchange.

With Blake safely out of earshot Weiss sighed. "Honestly, considering what we've had to put up with and what we're doing for her, you would think she could at least try to be pleasant company."

Yang flung her legs over the edge of her bed while staring down at Weiss. "But she has got a point. I mean Jaune has seen more action with the White Fang recently than us. Jaune!"

"And that was just some crazy coincidence. Dumb luck and nothing more."

"Still all this waiting around isn't good for us."

"Good for us or good for Blake?" Weiss corrected staring at her bed under Yang's. "She hasn't been sleeping you know. The past few nights I got woken up after the light from her scroll shined on my face."

Ruby jumped down off her bed, landing on her two feet. "Well maybe this trip will be good for her. Away from all of this, maybe it'll clear her head."

Yang jumped down from her bed and joined her sister. "Let's hope so because if she keeps going like this. She's gonna burn out, believe me."

The three remaining team members all looked at each other optimistically looking forward towards their teammate's future. Hoping for some semblance of what they used to have.

* * *

In what seemed like a blur a week passed and the day of the National Eden's Reserve excursion arrived. Early in the morning all of the first year Huntsman and Huntresses in training stood packed like a school of Wishiwashi at the end of the main avenue. Most were stood in large friend groups or in their teams conversing with one another as they waited patiently in front of four large airships ready to transport them away, merely waiting for the order to be given to let students on board.

"Wow, I never realised that there were this many people who wanted to become Huntsmen." Kai awed as he looked over at the many different students.

Walking up to him Robin stood by his side tapping her hand over her mouth as she gave a yawn. "Considering how dangerous the job is, I'm inclined to agree. At least Pokémon trainers know that wild Pokémon will leave you alone unless they've been provoked. Grimm are just… vicious."

Noticing Robin's tone, he looked towards her. "Hey I know you said you didn't want to go on this trip but are you alright? You seem a little-"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." The way Robin phrased it, it seem like more of a demand than a sincere reply.

Kai stared at Robin briefly before deciding to look away from his fellow trainer, realising that he likely wasn't gonna get much else out of her.

"Kai! Robin! Over here!"

The two Kalosians looked towards the source of the voice calling their name to see members of teams RWBY and JNPR waving at them. The two walked over to meet them while they did same.

"Hi guys. So, have you got everything you need?" Kai asked.

"Yup. We double checked and everything. How about you guys?" Ruby cheerfully responded.

"Like you need to ask. Packing everything you need before going on a trip is basically a Pokémon trainer requirement." Robin bragged while tapping her satchel. Her eyes glanced over towards Weiss who had several white suitcases at her feet. "Don't you think you've overdone it? How exactly are you going to carry all that around?"

"Overdone it?" Weiss leaned her face closer to Robin's with an annoyed look. "I'll have you know that those contain vital supplies of Dust needed for a wide assortment of tasks. As for carrying it, I'm more than capable of handling it myself although I'm sure my teammates wouldn't mind lending a hand." Weiss expectantly looked to her team with Ruby and Yang optimistically smiling and Blake looking elsewhere, lost in her own thoughts. "Ahem."

Yang nudged Blake, getting her attention. "Huh? Oh. Right. Go team." She said lethargically.

Pyrrha took a step closer towards Blake. "Are you feeling alright Blake? You don't seem like yourself."

"I'm fine. I just want to get this dumb trip over with."

"I suppose that makes two of us." Robin sighed in agreement before giving another yawn. "Why did they make us wake up so early for this?"

"Attention students!"

Before the teams could continue their conversation, Miss Goodwitch commanded the attention of the entire year towards her.

"I'm sure all of you are anxious to get going so I won't keep you any longer than I need to. There are many things about National Eden's Reserve that have still not been discovered. So, remain close to your classmates and stay vigilant. We wouldn't want anyone going missing, now would we?" Miss Goodwitch gestured to the four air ships docked behind her. "Due to your large size, all students will be divided into your respective academies whether that be: Beacon, Haven, Atlas or Shade. Each academy will have its own airship to transport you but rest assured that all four will land in the same place so you will not be separated for long. Now then let's get moving, we don't have all day."

Goodwitch turned her back and walked over to the Beacon airship with the front row of students doing the same to their academies respective transport.

"I suppose that's my cue to get moving. Atlas academy does not appreciate waiting up." Robin explained.

Kai readjusted the position of his yellow backpack before turning to face Robin. "Then I guess we'll see you later then."

Robin shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, I guess." She briefly said before turning her back and walking to Atlas Academy's airship.

Kai sighed and decided to just look towards the Beacon airship. "Might as well get going too. No point in staying put." Kai slowly walked to the ship with teams RWBY and JNPR following behind him, keeping up with his pace. The atmosphere around them being quiet and tense.

"So that was awkward right?" Nora bluntly asked the group.

"Pretty much. Honestly I'm pretty much used to it at this point." Kai sighed. "Besides it's not like I was good at talking to people in my world before I showed up here. Figures I can only make friends with people from a different planet."

"Look on the bright side Kai, at least she listens to you. Unlike _somebody_." Weiss chided. Ironically though, the person she was referring to didn't even notice.

Kai shrugged his shoulders. "What can you do, I guess?"

Ruby looked over at Blake seemingly out of it with her head down in deep thought. "I guess."

With the large group walking towards their academy's airship, Robin had already joined up with her fellow Atlas students and was standing amidst a large crowd that was patiently moving forward one step at a time into their academy's airship.

Unable to see the end of the cue Robin sighed to herself in boredom. "There are so many better things I could be doing right now."

Tapping her trainer on the ground impatiently, the sounds of murmuring and shuffling from behind caught her attention. She turned around and witnessed the first year Huntsman separating into two sides and standing perfectly straight with their arms at their sides. Enough soon cleared to see what they were moving around for. Walking through them was General Ironwood with two girls at his sides. On his right side was Penny while on his left was a completely new girl.

The girl had dark skin, short navy-blue hair and blue eyes with a gold marking on her forehead, that consisted of an oval with four smaller circles around it in a plus formation. She wore over a blue beret on her head, and a plain grey button-down shirt over her top with a blue combat skirt. She wore on her arms fingerless, elbow-length black gloves with her left arm also adorning a wrist watch.

The three walked up to the airship passing by more and more students who orderly went to the side to allow them to pass uninhibited. When the three walked up to Robin however, she didn't budge an inch.

Ironwood walked up to Robin, stopping before her. "Miss Navy."

"General." Robin calmly greeted, looking off at his sides at the two girls standing beside him. "I had heard that you might be attending the trip but I didn't expect you to be an escort."

The beret wearing girl stepped forward tapping her wrist watch. "Robin Navy. Unless you have a pressing concern relating to your personal wellbeing or the wellbeing of others then please step aside. You are wasting time and delaying our departure by at least a minute… and counting."

Hearing the emphasis on that last part, Robin showed even less enthusiasm than before which she didn't think was possible. "You know where I come from, when we want someone to do something, we use our manners. Would a please kill you…" Robin waved her hand trying to come up with a name.

"Ciel. Ciel Soleil. And an Atlas student shouldn't speak of manners when they are impeding their academies headmaster."

Penny stepped forward. "Come on Ciel. If asking her nicely will make her feel better _and_ allow us to proceed. Shouldn't the best course of action be to just ask her again."

Ciel sceptically looked at Penny when Ironwood walked past them to get closer to Robin. "Miss Navy. Would you kindly move out of the way? Bearing in mind that as your headmaster this is not a question but an order."

Robin still didn't feel too inclined to move. It probably wasn't a big deal in the grand scheme but to Robin this was her only way of rebelling against this trip, not to mention that she wasn't exactly in a positive state of mind to be generous in the first place. Still she had gotten her headmaster to ask her to move personally, even using the word 'kindly'. She supposed that was enough of a victory for now.

Without saying a word in response, Robin walked off to the side with the other students allowing the three to move on ahead through the rest of the first years. Walking back into the centre Robin huffed.

"This is going to be a painful three days."

* * *

"Ugh! This is so boring!" Nora moaned with her face, nose and cheeks squished against the window in the Beacon airship's cabin.

Pyrrha walked over to her teammate and looked out the window with her, albeit without mushing her cheeks against the glass. "Just wait a little while longer Nora. I'm sure we'll be there shortly."

"But we've already been stuck in the air for…?"

Nora trailed off trying to actually remember how long it had been since they had left Beacon's grounds. She quizzically tapped her foot trying to figure out the conundrum placed upon herself.

Her partner looked at her while he was leaning against the wall. "Three hours." Ren answered.

"Thanks Ren. THREE HOURS!" Nora bellowed, making many of the people near her flinch.

One of those people happened to be Blake who groaned in annoyance at Nora's outcry. "Could you have said that any louder?"

"Geeze _sor-ry_. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Nora teased.

Blake just sighed in annoyance at Nora's teasing when a holographic projection suddenly blipped on behind her, showing an image of Goodwitch facing the cabin's students.

" ** _We are making our final descent into the Eden National Reserve. Students are advised not to walk off immediately when we land. Please stay together and wait until everyone has been gathered for more information. Thank you for your patience._** _"_

Goodwitch's hologram disappeared leaving many first years to murmur at the news they have just been given.

"About time!" Nora happily announced as she continued to stare out the window.

Many followed Nora's example though not her approach as they too stared out at the plateau under them. The approaching airships shadow's trailed across the large flat upper regions of the plateau as they slowly flew over them towards the ground. Descending, lower and lower the students got to see a much more level view showcasing the bright green canopy trees over the ground and the sheer height of the cliffs they once soared over along with the new sight of a massive waterfall crashing down towards the earth. It truly was a sight to behold.

And of the students taking in the view, Kai in particular stared at the sight with a lowered jaw. "Woah…"

"Did you say something Kai?" Yang asked walking up to him.

"What? Oh nothing it's just… Ever since I've arrived here all I've seen are buildings and suburban areas and streets and cars and robots and-" Kai took a breath. "Just seeing all this nature… it reminds me a little of home that's all. It's beautiful."

Kai's expression went from awe to mourning as he remembered his predicament. He hadn't really thought too much about Kalos' routes but considering how he had spent a year travelling on them during his journey and another two years leisurely using Talonflame to fly from place to place. It made him realise how much more of his world he truly missed.

Yang looked at Kai with a good-natured grin. "Well don't get too attached. This may be a good substitute for your world but I know you'll get to see the real thing again pretty soon. So quit moping alright?"

Kai looked towards Yang's bright appearance and smiled brightly back. "Yeah you're probably right. Thanks Yang."

The sound of squeaking attracted the sounds of murmuring and giggling from the students in the cabin, getting Yang and Kai to look over at what everyone was getting so worked up about.

That sight in question being Nora repeatedly struggling to pull her face off of the window. "Um guys… little help…" Nora mumbled with a frozen funny face.

Yang and Kai looked at each other with Yang giving Kai a smug look. "Well? Isn't that your cue?"

"Hey I don't have to help everyone who needs assistance." Kai answered back. Yang just continued looking smugly at him before slowly Kai's face dropped and he walked over to free Nora from her self-imposed face freeze. "Me and my stupid big heart."

* * *

In no time at all the four academy airships had landed on the plateau's ground level in a large, open circular, area of the jungle around them. The four airships had already begun letting students off where they took in the unique Vale climate.

"I know it's summer but phew this place is humid." Kai remarked taking in the heat and moisture.

"What's wrong Kai? Can't take the heat?" Yang teased.

"Yang please. I've spent the past couple of years living with a frog that shoots boiling water, a fire breathing meringue and Talonflame. I can deal with the heat." Kai pulled his fedora off his head and wafted it in front of his face. "This place just caught me by surprise that's all. I didn't expect the eastern part of Vale to be like this, maybe it's the altitude?"

Having cooled himself enough and gotten used to the heat Kai placed his prized hat back on his head where he and Yang joined up with the rest of Team RWBY and Team JNPR, with even Team SSSN having already arrived ahead of them.

"Took you guys long enough? What kept you?" Sun asked the pair.

"Don't look at me. We got stuck behind everyone and _somebody_ wouldn't let me push my way through them." Yang accusingly gestured Kai.

"Because it would have been rude. Also, would you really have been comfortable pushing your way through a bunch of strangers? Getting up close and brushing backs and fronts against each other like you were packed in a can." Kai explained in response.

"Trust me, they'd let me through one way-" Yang punched on open palm. "Or another."

Kai stared at the blonde next to him and nervously gulped. "Fair enough."

A few moments the group was joined by a slowly approaching Robin whose appearance seemed much weaker than normal. "That flight… was hell…"

"Come on I know it was long but it couldn't have been that bad could it?" Kai asked. He looked down at Robin's attire something catching his eye. "Hold on. What is that?" Kai pointed down at Robin's tie, specifically at a small smudge.

Robin followed Kai's finger towards the smudge, her expression going from one of disinterest to sudden embarrassment.

 _A thought bubble appeared above her head showcasing a memory of her on the airship. Her eyes were blank and her cheeks were puffy as a result of her motion sickness. She groaned as she fell to her knees in front of the airships bathroom where she passionately hugged the toilet bowl for most of the trip._

Looking away from Kai she put up a façade to hide her embarrassment. "That's probably from breakfast." She technically didn't lie.

"Well aren't you going to rub it off before it stains or-?"

"Probably not. I really don't care."

"Are you sure? Doesn't it make you feel all wrong?"

"I said I didn't care, didn't I?"

"Yeah but-"

"Attention students. May I please have your attention." Goodwitch called out, putting an end to Kai and Robin's small argument. "As you should know we are currently standing in the Eden National Reserve an extremely different area than you see in most of Vale. It's exotic and bizarre appearance may be captivating but please remember that this trip is not just for your own personal comfort." Goodwitch pulled out her black tablet-like scroll and pressed the screen, immediately after everyone's scroll's pinged showing they had a new message. "What I have just sent to you all is a list of fifty different items for you to collect while we're spending our duration here. If you can collect all the items then you will achieve maximum grade available. If you fail to retrieve them all however, then you won't even get a single mark. Your best course of action for both safety and efficiency is to group up with at least one other student. They may be your teammate or a student from another academy but let me assure you, this is not a task that can be completed on your own. Now with that said, remember your training… and have fun." Goodwitch waved her hand towards the students. "You're dismissed."

With her speech finished Goodwitch walked away allowing all of the students present to independently talk and prepare their next move.

"No way! This is just like a scavenger hunt! Finally, something normal!" Jaune joyfully exclaimed.

"I wouldn't exactly call some of the things on this list normal." Scarlett pointed out as he and several others were looking at the list sent to them. "Some weird coloured mushrooms, weird shaped rock chips, underwater scales?" Scarlett turned to his team. "Guys. I didn't bring my bathing suit."

"I'm sorry did you just say underwater?" Neptune nervously turned to his teammate. Looking behind Scarlett he noticed the noticing his strange behaviour and quickly snapped back into a cool confident pose. "Not that it matters or anything. Nope. Just double checking. About the water. Yup. That's all." Neptune flashed a toothy smile, showcasing his pearly whites that shone in the light.

"… Oka ~y. Still I guess this will be a good chance to take a breather from everything going on back at Beacon." Kai optimistically stated. "So are we all moving now or-?"

Sun awkwardly raised his arms. "O~h did you guys discuss going together in a large group. I mean not that, that isn't cool and all cause it is. But me and the guys were hoping to do this as a team, you know to bring us together and make up for lost time."

"And by lost time you mean ditching us at Haven to spend six weeks here at Beacon." Sage remined.

Sun quickly turned to face Sage, accusingly pointing at him. "Hey! I said I was sorry; can you stop bringing that up!" Sun just as quickly turned back to face Kai and the others. "So yeah, I kind of owe these guys, sorry."

"Don't worry Sun, it's fine. One less group doesn't matter right guys? Guys?" Kai looked over to Teams RWBY and JNPR who responded with awkward stares. "…All of you are doing this in your teams aren't you?"

Ruby awkwardly stepped forward. "Sorry Kai. We would have invited you to come with us but we really needed some team bonding time."

Ruby looked towards her team where despite their normal appearances, there were some subtle features showing Blake's disinterest, Weiss' annoyance and Yang hoping to sort things out.

"Yeah I get it, no need to apologise guys." Kai looked down and tapped his Pokéball belt. "Besides I'm never really alone as long as I've got my Pokémon with me. We'll be able to handle this just fine."

Jaune's eyes lit up, with an idea. "Why don't you just pair up with Robin? I'm sure she'll be okay with that, right Robin?"

Jaune stared into the area where Robin stood only to see a blank empty space, with a white dashed silhouette of Robin blinking in and out of reality to highlight her absence.

Sage gestured his thumb over his shoulder. "Yeah she left the moment we were dismissed."

Kai slumped over. "Well that answers that question. To be honest I doubt she would want to pair up with me anyway, especially with how unenthusiastic she's been about this trip."

"Come on Kai, at the very least you should try to ask her before giving up on the idea entirely." Yang suggested.

"Do you really mean that or do you just want me to leave so that you won't have to just ditch me?"

"Eh. A bit of both."

Kai sighed, straightening his posture. "Well no point holding you guys up. Still I suppose it's worth an ask. Later guys."

Kai raised his hand to signal his goodbye before walking away from the group, leaving them alone to witness his departure.

"Well I suppose we should be heading off soon as well. We don't have all day to collect these items." Pyrrha suggested, breaking the atmosphere.

"Yeah, our team should probably head off too. Later guys." Sun waved as he and his team departed from the group.

"We'll race ya!" Nora declared as she walked off with her team.

"No, we won't." Ren corrected.

Teams SSSN and JNPR went off in their own directions solely leaving Team RWBY on their own. Turning to her team Ruby pumped her fist. "All right team! Who's ready to do this?! Yang!"

"Yeah!"

"Weiss!"

"Of course!"

"Blake! ...Blake?"

Ruby and her team looks towards Blake only for her to have seemingly vanished with the only trace of her being a white, dashed line silhouette blinking in and out of existence.

Yang tilted her head towards the empty space. "Huh? Guess we know how Kai feels."

* * *

Many of the first years had already made a decision on their next move, whether it was taking a moment to plan, setting up camp, or going head first into the plateaux in search of the items. Out of all the students there was only truly one who wasn't quite sure what they were going to do. Robin stared at the thick trees at the edge of the campsite staring through the thick alien terrain into the oncoming unknown. She planted her feet and stood her ground, neither backing down or progressing forward.

"Hey Robin, are you leaving already?"

Robin casually looked over her shoulder to see Kai slowly approaching her. "Well it's not like I'm admiring the view. I figured I might as well get this over with."

"Right I get that but I was thinking… maybe we could do this together? You know since Miss Goodwitch said that we should at least be in pairs. And since we're both Pokémon trainers and live together and know each other… why not?"

Robin looked Kai up and down for a brief moment, then looked away back at the trees. "I can't stop you from following me if you want but I'm collecting these items on my own. I don't need or want your help."

"I understand if you would prefer me not to… wait? Really

"That's what I said wasn't it. You changed your mind?"

Kai walked up to Robin while he unclipped a Pokéball from his belt. "No. No. That works with me. Now come on out Slurpuff!"

The capsule opened sending out a bright energy that moulded into Slurpuff's frame. She closed her eyes and raised her nose upwards taking several passionate sniffs. "Mmm~ What a peculiar parfume." She lowered her nose to the ground and took more sniffs. "Most peculiar indeed. Such a different… yet familiar parfume."

"What is she even going on about? And why did you bring her out anyway?" Robin asked.

"From the sounds of it the smell of this place is confusing Slurpuff. And aside from the company I thought her enhanced sense of smell could help sniff out some of these items." Kai reasoned. "Come on Slurpuff we can figure out this smell later, right now we have work to do."

Slurpuff turned away from her task and looked up towards Kai. "Of course Kai parfume. What would you wish my parfume to do?"

Kai walked forwards with Slurpuff following him at the sides of his kneecaps. "Right Slurpuff this is gonna sound weird but I need you to tell me if you start sniffing any of these items."

Robin watched as Kai and Slurpuff walked past her and began their hunt in the forest. Watching their backs, she readied herself and adjusted the position of her satchel's strap on her shoulder, taking the opportunity to look at her bandaged arms.

She took her first steps towards the jungle. "Guess I have no excuse if Kai's doing it."

Robin quickly caught up with Kai and soon the two made it through the first layer of trees, getting absorbed into the thick of the plateaux.

* * *

The light from Beacon's CCT illuminated the air around it in a bright green glow that hung high above the rest of the academy. From the top of the tower Ozpin sat down at his desk in front of a monitor that showed Miss Goodwitch.

"I take it the students have all arrived safely." Ozpin assumed.

On the screen Goodwitch nodded. " ** _Yes. We have landed only ten minutes ago. I have addressed the students and they have already moved amongst themselves."_**

"And how is James handling the situation? I'm sure a headmaster from Atlas is unfamiliar to being surrounded in a techless, thriving environment."

" ** _He's handling it the same way he always does._** " Goodwitch paused for a moment and looked down.

"Something on your mind Glynda?"

Goodwitch looked back up to see Ozpin eye to eye. " ** _It's nothing. I'm just preparing myself for what is to come._** "

Ozpin look began to show concern. "I appreciate you agreeing to do this again. I know it must not be easy, were it not for me acting as headmaster and a council member-"

" ** _It's no trouble at all._** " Goodwitch interrupted. " ** _What's most important is finding out the secrets of this new area. And if we are successful this year, then we shall be spared the unpleasantness of this next time._** "

Ozpin nodded, reaching outwards. "We can only hope."

Ozpin ended the call making the monitor blip off. Getting out of his seat he turned around and looked out of his window at the afternoon sun, slowly going down over the mountains.

"Glynda, James, students… I can only apologise enough for what you will have to go through. But I hope that by the end, you will all have become stronger as a result of it."

* * *

 **Hello again and welcome back to and welcome to the 'Nightmare Plateaux arc'. As you can see this arc is set in an entirely new location of my creation, the mystery's and discoveries of which will be a central focus of this arc. Hopefully I've peaked your interests.**

 **Speaking of original ideas the first chapter of my Fairy Tail Story 'A Cryptid's Dream' has finally come out, so if you're a fan the manga/anime or a fan of my writing I suggest checking it out.**

 **And with that, until next time this is Kallerston signing out.**


	44. Chapter 41: Discovery and Obscurity

**-Afternoon, Eden National Reserve-**

Down in the depths of the plateaux's jungle, the leaves that lay flat on the tree's stretched out branches gently rustled in the peaceful climate. Small dew drops sparkled in the sun as their own weight rolled them towards the leaf's tip, dripping off into the shade where it broke over the ground in a splash.

From the shade a rustling sound was heard near a shaking tuft of grass. Followed swiftly by the soft sound of something stepping on the crumbling earth. The grass shook in place as something could slowly be seen emerging from the plant life. Another step was about to be taken when the much louder sound of branches bending and rocks rolling over made whatever was attempting to move quickly flee back into the safety of darkness. Its movements rustling past the tall grass on its way back.

Arriving in the area under the unassuming sunlight, Ruby lead her team as she darted her head left and right. "Come on team, just a little bit further and I'm sure we'll find these… uh what was the first thing on the list again?"

Yang looked down at her scroll. "Some kind of dandelion seeds, I dunno."

Walking beside Yang, Weiss entered the area squinting her eyes. "Wait a minute." Weiss dramatically turned to Ruby. "We've been here before! You've just led us around in a giant circle!"

"C'mon Weiss I'm pretty sure I would have noticed something like that on the way here." Ruby denied.

"Oh really? Then how do you explain that?" Weiss pointed off to the side where the large group campsite could be seen in the distance.

"Oh, I guess I did lead us in a circle. My bad." Ruby apologised.

"Your bad?! It's already been twenty minutes Ruby and we haven't even come close to finding one item on the list! I will not be held responsible for receiving a poor grade due to your poor exploration skills!"

"I already said I was sorry."

"No you haven't!"

While the two partners were arguing Yang looked up from her scroll to see Blake slowly joining up with them. "Hey, what took ya?"

"Nothing did. Have you found anything yet?" Blake unemotionally answered.

"You know you could at least try to look interested. I wish I was back the same as you but it's not like we can do anything about it, so we might as well make the most of it."

"I guess." Blake looked down at the ground to avoid eye contact when she could swear, she heard rustling. Blake gasped and quickly unsheathed her Gambol Shroud, raising its blade towards the grass in the distance.

"Blake?! What is it?" Yang urgently asked.

"Didn't you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Blake looked at her partner then back at the still grass. She slowly put her weapon away and looked around aimlessly. "Nothing. It was nothing. Never mind."

"A ha!"

Blake and Yang quickly looked over to Ruby who triumphantly held a bunch of cotton-like spore's in her hands.

"I knew they would be around here!" Ruby triumphantly announced to her team as she held them close to her face.

"Alright fine. You were right this time. Let's just bag these up and then we can-"

Ruby had already lost interest in what Weiss was talking about, instead choosing to take a sniff of the plant seeds in her hands. Not only did they have a fresh scent but one just so happened to get sucked up Ruby's nostril making her wince.

"A… A… ACHOO!"

Ruby sneezed so strongly that all of the spore's in her hands were blown away, sent drifting along the wind into reaches unknown. Her teammates, Weiss in particular judged her harshly with annoyed glares.

"Honestly I would think you'd have learned after the Dust incident." Weiss moaned.

"Yeah. Way to go crater face." Yang mocked.

"Come on! Don't start that again Yang! I can't control my nose hairs!" Ruby begged, attempting to excuse herself.

The loud cries of her team made Blake momentarily smile at their innocent antics only to be reminded of the tainted white symbol that ruled over her conscience, her smile fading away. Distracted in her thought's she didn't even hear the sound of rustling behind her as a shadow stared at her team from behind the trees.

* * *

"Parfume!" Slurpuff announced.

Slurpuff pointed her stubby paw towards a series of thick thorny vines that were wrapped together so thickly that they bared the appearance of bushes that concealed the source of the aroma being sniffed. Kai and Robin leaned in closer to stare in between the vines to get a better look where they both caught a glimpse of a small yellow item hidden in the brush.

"Well it's definitely there but how are we gonna get to it? I know we have aura but I didn't come out here to get poked and stabbed by thorns today." Robin huffed.

Kai put his hands in his jacket pockets. "Don't worry I've got this."

A moment later Kai's hands re-emerged adorned with his gauntlets, a sight which caught Robin's attention.

"What are those?" Robin asked.

"These are my weapons; Gant Blindé. Part Multi Action Dust Gauntlet and part extendable grappling hook. Pretty cool right?" Kai crouched down and used his weapon to push the prickly vines away without injuring his hands.

"Part grappling hook? Isn't that a bit unnecessary?" Robin critiqued.

Kai scrunched his brow in annoyance. "Hey grappling hooks are cool! Don't diss it!"

Kai rummaged around a bit more until he removed enough foliage to get a clear view of the pair of listed items. A large golden seed with dark lines marked all around it.

Putting his hands around the seeds Kai pulled them out. "There we go. Two for the price of one. Here you go Robin."

Robin looked down at Kai's open palm holding the seed. She picked it up in her fingers and without hesitation tossed it over her shoulder. "What did I say about me needing help? I could've gotten it myself."

Kai got upright, staring Robin in the eye. "Less than a minute ago you were complaining about getting it. I'm just trying to help."

Robin turned and walked away. "Well I don't want it. Your Slurpuff narrowing down the search is one thing but as for retrieving, I'm not expecting any handouts. Don't expect me to give you any either."

Kai stared at Robin's back in slight bewilderment. "Wow… I knew you were stubborn but-"

Robin looked over her shoulder. "If you've got something to say about me. At least have the guts to say it to my face." Kai quickly closed his mouth, making Robin look back in front of her. "That's what I thought. Now come on, I need to get myself another seed."

Robin walked off with Kai slowly making his way back up to her. Staying in place Slurpuff watched her trainer and his roommate walk off, while she sniffed the air to catch a whiff of their parfume's.

"Such a pungent aroma coming off her parfume. Such a strong parfume clearly has been applied with too little restraint." Slurpuff judged as she too made her way after them.

* * *

Tiny bubbles of air escaped from the submerged rock bed that lay under the crashing wake of the plateaux's waterfall. The cool blue water was tranquil and pristine when it was disturbed by the arrival of two entities diving into the water. One a freshwater ninja amphibian, the other a saltwater cannon-clawed crustacean. Greninja and Clawitzer swam through the clear liquid as quick as they could to reach the bottom, their eyes peeled for the items they were tasked with collecting. Momentarily stopping his swim Greninja looked around where in the dark shadowed areas he spotted something. Bubbles slowly appeared from under his tongue as he went to investigate closer up where he found what he was looking for. Reaching out he grasped chips of pink coral, scooping them up in his front foot. He turned around and began his swim to the surface taking a moment to taunt the approaching Clawitzer for finding the coral first. Clawitzer shook her head in dismissal as she swam further down to retrieve the item.

* * *

Deep in the lush jungles of the plateaux where the canopy was so thick that shadows blanketed the entire space, a black silhouette blended in with the darkness. A high-pitched squeal was heard echoing from trunk to trunk allowing the silhouette to expertly make it towards a faint-light source.

The glow illuminated the silhouette to reveal Noivern flying down to meet up with the bioluminescent light emitted from various purple and pink mushroom caps. Cautiously approaching them, Noivern's sniffed them cautiously when his eyelids grew heavy and soon closed as he fell to a swift slumber. The ground slowly broke up next to them to form a hole that Flareon's head popped out of. She stared at the sleeping dragon and narrowed her eyes in poor judgement.

* * *

A black paw stepped off the jagged edges to leap to ascend to a higher point. The paw landed on top of another edge that allowed it to jump higher once more. A blue blur scaled the rocky cliffside like it was nothing, jumping higher and higher until at last they had reached the top.

Gently bending their knees so their posture stood straight, Lucario looked ahead to see a large brown birds' nest.

"GRRAWRR!"

Lucario looked over his shoulder to see Tyrantrum's head rising above the edge of the cliffside. On top of which perched Robin who calmly walked forward off her Pokémon's head onto the hard rock. She quickly caught up with Lucario as the two looked into the nest to see it made with not just sticks and feathers but most alarmingly… bones.

Gently placing their paws or hands into the nest they took a portion of the sticks, feathers and bones and walked back to Tyrantrum who gently lowered his head and bent his knees to safely escort them to the ground. Once on the ground Tyrantrum sat on his behind and scratched the back of his head with one of his feet, a sight which made Kai and Lucario smile but made Robin groan as she returned him.

* * *

"Forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine…" Kai's eyes scanned the list on his scroll, muttering to himself. "One more and we're finished and it only took us a little over an hour."

Slurpuff triumphantly raised her paw. "Our parfume's are fragrant with success!"

"At least this stupid task is almost over. Maybe if we're fast enough, they'll take us back and we won't have to spend the night." Robin commented.

Kai looked up from his scroll and gazed at Robin. "Could you at least try to be a little positive? At least to avoid getting us attacked by evil monsters?"

"I doubt that parfume very much. This area's parfume is very baffling with an overwhelming scent of various parfumes' but none of which has been a Grimm parfume." Slurpuff explained.

"Really? Are you sure Slurpuff?"

Slurpuff nodded. "The parfume never lies."

Robin grunted. "Don't take this personally. But I'd be hesitant to take the word of a meringue over your own judgement. We're the trainers remember."

Kai shrugged. "Doesn't mean your team can't come up with a good idea. Besides I doubt even you can argue against Slurpuff having a better sense of smell over you."

"Bah! Do not even attempt to argue with Berry parfume. Her parfume is one of bitterness and sourness." Slurpuff waved her nose away from Robin in dismissal.

"Berry parfume?" Robin repeated in confusion.

"It's a nickname. Everyone other than me and my team gets one. Must be because of all those berries you grow." Kai explained.

Robin just looked away in disinterest. "Whatever. Let's just hurry up and finish this."

"Yeah I guess you're… you're…"

The two pushed on until they came face to face with their destination. Against one of the rocky walls of the plateaux was a large tunnel. Staring inside all you could see was pitch black giving it the appearance of a singularity. The two came to a stop in front of the entrance with Kai in particular eying it up and down, a certain stiffness taking over him.

"So, is this it?" Robin asked.

"…" No response came from Kai or Slurpuff.

Robin took a step forward before looking back at the pair behind her. "What is it? Don't tell me we've walked all this way for nothing?"

"…"

Again, Kai didn't respond. His focus was completely focused on the tunnel in front of him keeping his attention as though he were in a hypnotic trance. Robin began to show less annoyance and more curiosity for Kai's sudden silent treatment when Slurpuff gently patted her paw against his leg.

"Kai parfume…" She said in a gentle tone.

The soft sensation finally snapped Kai back into reality as he blinked and shook his head. "I'm sorry I… just zoned out for a minute there. Slurpuff what is it?"

"The last parfume is inside."

Kai looked down at Slurpuff, then past Robin at the tunnel's entrance. "It is. Right, that's… that's what we were doing here. In front of this cave. Which we are about… to go in…"

Kai's disposition didn't go unnoticed by Robin who decided to walk closer to him. "Okay, you're acting weird. Well _weirder_. Don't tell me you're giving up."

"Giving up?! No, not me it's just… it's just…" Kai took a deep breath in and out. "I just… can't go inside there. And I can't send any of my team in there either. That's all."

Robin put her hands on her hips in disappointment. "Well that sounds like giving up to me. Why are you even freaking out anyway? Surely, you've explored caves before? What about Connecting Cave? Glittering Cave? Reflection Cave? Or Terminus Cave the place where I assume you caught your Noivern when he was a Noibat?"

"Noibat actually flew out of the cave. Funny story really."

"You're dodging the question."

Robin leaned in closer, intentionally making Kai more stressed out. "Okay fine! I can enter caves… but only if I have to. And I mean _really_ have to alright. Honestly… right now I'd rather fail then go in there okay."

"Seriously, you're not afraid of the dark or enclosed spaces but you're afraid of caves? How does that even-"

"I said I can't go in ALRIGHT!"

Kai's final outburst made Robin take a step back, the volume and the tone surprising her. Kai noticed her flinch and immediately calmed down. "Sorry it's just… I just can't go underground I just can't." Kai looked down at the ground shamefully. "And I can't send any of my Pokémon down there either because…"

Kai stopped himself before he finished, something clearly being on his mind. Robin having enough turned around and began walking into the tunnel by herself.

"Fine. Stay out here and give up then. Just don't expect me to get you a sample though, you'll just have to fail." Robin took her final steps into the tunnel where her figure soon vanished inside the darkness leaving Kai and Slurpuff alone.

Seeing Robin go in alone, Kai nervously gulped and took a step forward. His boot crunching against the earth. Taking a shaky breath, he took another one to get a step closer. "Come on Kai. Come on. Get a grip, get a-"

He took another step forward towards the dark, cold, abyss in front of him, the heat draining from his face. The darkness mesmerised him once again as he stared deep into the void with an intense look. His eyes glued to the end of the never-ending corridor; Kai felt he was unable to look away as in the back of his mind he could feel a painfully familiar pain.

" _I…he…som...on…"_

 _"K…wa…sto…!"_

Incoherent ramblings went on in Kai's head as he began to slowly lose control of his breathing. The heat from not just the plateaux but from his anxiety making him sweat as slowly a blue flicker could be seen in his eyes.

"Kai parfume!"

The shout shut off the noises and the feelings in a sudden moment as though a switch was turned off. Kai slowly got control of his breathing once again and looked down at his feet to see Slurpuff standing there beside him.

"We do not need to explore the tunnel's parfume. We are not on a journey to seek badge parfumes. We are not out to save a lost parfume. Our parfume's are okay. Our parfume's are okay." Slurpuff calmly spoke to Kai.

Kai stared at his family member and managed to smile. "Thank you Slurpuff… come on let's head back to camp. I'll set everything up for us and maybe you can prepare lunch."

Slurpuff smiled leaving her tongue out. "My parfume would like nothing more."

The trainer and Pokémon turned around and began their trek back ready to leave the tunnel behind. However, Kai couldn't help but glance over his shoulder for one last look at the spot where Robin went into, before turning his head back forward and not looking back.

* * *

Elsewhere Team JNPR were in the midst of gathering a handful of leaves from the nearby trees. Jaune jumped up and down on the spot to reach the upper branches only for him to literally fall short. Hearing his grunting and the sound of his shoes repeatedly stomping the ground Pyrrha looked behind to see Jaune struggling.

"Jaune. Do you need me to give you a leg up?" Pyrrha kindly offered.

Jaune looked back to see Pyrrha. "No Pyrrha I'm good. I just need a bit… more… reach!" Jaune stood on his tip toes and groaned in his attempts to grab the foliage. Putting his hands on his knees, Jaune bent over and panted when he had a sudden epiphany. Reaching to his side Jaune pulled out his sword and stood on his tip toes, using his sword to hit the branches.

While Jaune struggled, to his side Ren successfully jumped down from the tree holding a bundle of leaves in his arms.

Looking over to see his teammate Ren narrowed his eyes. "Jaune? Are you doing alright?"

"Almost got it…" Jaune replied having not properly heard Ren.

Looking away in response Ren placed the leaves down on the jungle floor for Nora to collect and put away. Taking in the calm of the local terrain Ren took a calm collected breath while closing his eyes. His brow suddenly furrowed as though he felt a change in the air, he concentrated on that feeling as he shifted himself towards the unknown darkness further ahead of him. Cautiously he lowered his hands down to his waist preparing his weapons, unable to ignore the sensation that he was being watched.

"GAAHH!"

The loud scream followed by a loud crash brough Ren out of his senses where he and his team all stared at the base of a tree. Under which was an outstretched Jaune covered in freshly cut branches and large green leaves. Shaking his head Jaune exposed ruffled his nature filled hair and spat out a small clump of drool covered leaves.

"Okay… Now I could use some help…" Jaune admitted in defeat.

Pyrrha couldn't help but giggle at Jaune's ruffed up appearance, using her hand to cover her mouth. "Don't worry I'm coming."

As Pyrrha helped her partner up Ren looked back out into the distance. The feeling he had before had disappeared, was it nothing? Ren couldn't be completely sure? But for now, Ren moved his hands away from his sides and relaxed.

"Hey Re~n!"

Ren turned to see Nora holding up a pair of branches by the sides of her head. "Guess what I am!"

Ren showed confusion at Nora's antics. "Uhh… A tree?"

"Seriously! That's your first guess?!"

"Am I wrong?"

Nora pouted, dropping the branches and walking off. "Forget it. You ruined the joke." Ren just watched her walk off when she turned back round and leaned in close to his face. "I was an elk! An elk!"

Nora's leaned away from Ren leaving him to only blink awkwardly in response. "…That would have been my next guess."

* * *

At the campsite, a small group of Huntsman and Huntresses in training were in the midst of setting up camp rather than obtaining the items on the list immediately. Watching over them with a Noctowl like gaze, Goodwitch hardly felt the gentle breeze blowing the pointy ends of her cape.

"Glynda."

Goodwitch looked over to see Ironwood walking towards her from his own high-tech tent. "James. Shouldn't you be watching over Miss Polendina?"

"She should be able to look after herself for the time being. Provided nothing alarming should happen in the next few days." Ironwood answered coming to a stop next to Goodwitch.

"So, Ozpin has told you then."

"Ozpin has told me many things Glynda. You need to be more specific."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Ironwood looked over to the professional Huntress. "It's not often I see you this defensive."

"I am not defensive. Just wary."

Ironwood smirked. "Spoken like someone on the defensive. I should know." Ironwood's smirk faded into a serious frown. "I am not looking forward to the next few nights either Glynda."

"I'm not concerned about my own wellbeing." Glynda looked outwards taking notice of Team CRDL pitching up their tent, then further down she spotted Emerald and Mercury talking about the list of items they needed to obtain. The looks on their faces showed they weren't impressed. "I've had to go through this twice already and I have already prepared myself. But these students may lack the emotional maturity to handle this, it wouldn't be the first time I've seen it."

Ironwood looked out along with Glynda. "That is true. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what goes through Oz's head sometimes. Even if someone has to go, he could send professionals or elder years-"

"Or your machine's?"

"If necessary." Ironwood turned back towards his tent. "I suppose I should check in with the fleet over Vale again."

Goodwitch sighed. "If you must then don't let me stop you."

Ironwood paused outside his tent and looked back at Goodwitch. "You know Glynda, my tent is always open should you find the need for some company."

"And you should know James that mine is completely shut off."

Ironwood gave a small chuckle, as he went inside. "There you go being defensive again."

Goodwitch brushed the comment off and went back to her observation of the students. However, she immediately noticed a change since the last time she checked, an extra student and his small pink companion arriving and beginning to make camp.

In a notably open and secluded area of the campsite Kai unrolled a sleeping bag from his backpack before looking towards an unpitched tent. "I've always hated these things but if we have to, might as well get started."

Kai picked up a set of illustrated instructions and set to work setting up the tent. Laying out the mesh flat on the ground before putting the mesh together one pole at a time. The minutes dragged on and while Slurpuff had adorned her chef's hat and began to work, lighting a fire with some nearby sticks and her Flamethrower before pulling out a frying pan and letting it heat up over the flames.

"You have got to be kidding me?"

Kai and Slurpuff looked to the side to see Robin standing opposite them, staring at Slurpuff.

"Robin? You're back already?" Kai said in surprise.

"It didn't take long to get the item, not that you would know. But what exactly is your Slurpuff doing with a frying pan?" Robin asked suspiciously.

"My parfume is preparing a delicious parfume filled meal." Slurpuff replied.

Robin looked at the meringue Pokémon with complete befuddlement. "…I could handle them talking. I could handle them battling. But this… This?!"

"Come on Robin, Slurpuff are used in kitchen's all the time." Kai explained.

"As taste testers! Not as chef's!"

"Well that was how it started." Kai began to recollect. "When I first caught Slurpuff as a Swirlix she would always sniff and taste the food I had. She would either give me seasonings or ingredients and eventually she just took over. Out of my whole team she probably handled pronunciation the best of my team when she started to speak thanks to all the cook books and cooking shows she watched after I finished my journey."

"I would hardly count saying perfume every sentence good pronunciation."

Slurpuff pointed her frying pan at Robin in a challenging manner. "Parfume! Do not underestimate my parfume Berry parfume!"

"You really think you can cook! Fine!" Robin went for her satchel and brought out three of her berry pots containing: Pecha berries, round blue berries, and a green berry with yellow stripes attached to the stem. "But let me show you what a real cook is."

Robin quickly set up her own cooking station and quickly sliced and diced her berries like a professional, placing them into an iron cooking dish where the berries began to form a thick glaze. Pulling into her bag again Robin added spinach leaves and walnuts and began stirring it all together.

Slurpuff raised her nose and sniffed the air, her face relaxing with delight before scrunching up in realisation. "I suppose the parfume is… decent…"

Looking over to her trainer she saw Kai practically drooling at the mouth at Robin's cooking skills. Slurpuff gaped at her trainer's betrayal looking away dismissively.

Soon the time had passed and Robin's dish was ready to serve. Pecha, Oran and Aguav berry salad with walnuts. "Has your Pokémon ever cooked something like this before?"

Kai shook his head. "Never something this healthy looking."

"The sugar's in my dishes parfume are healthy and energy providing!" Slurpuff defended.

Robin reached into her satchel and grabbed her team. "All right. Time to eat!"

Chesnaught, Beedrill, Tyrantrum, Flareon, Clawitzer and Beartic all popped out ready to be served.

"Ches! Naught! (Yeah! Food!)" Chesnaught cheered.

"Flareon Flareon. (I suppose I am rather peckish.)" Flareon politely stated.

Tyrantrum held his tongue out of his mouth and panted as he lay on his front waiting to be fed.

Looking at Robin's full team Kai smiled. "I guess it's my team's lunch too. Come on guys!"

Greninja, Talonflame, Aegislash, Lucario and Noivern joined Slurpuff ready for their meal.

"Hoo boy I'm hungry! All that retrieving works up an appetite!" Greninja declared, raising his front legs in the air.

"You retrieved one item in your ideal environment." Lucario pointed out.

"Your point?"

"Wait? Where's the food?!" Talonflame yelled.

Talonflame yell made Kai and his team look over to Slurpuff's cooking area to see that her frying pan was bare and that she hadn't even started cooking yet.

"Aah! My parfume was too distracted by the waft of another that I have yet to start the parfume's prep!" Slurpuff cried out in anguish, tears dripping from her eyes.

Robin's team all sceptically looked at the fairy type. "Flare Flare Flareon. (You'd think she'd show a little dignity.)" Flareon critiqued.

"Claw. Clawitzer Claw. (Aye. She be leaking more than a damaged hull.)" Clawitzer agreed.

Kai gently patted Slurpuff on the head. "There, there Slurpuff. We can wait a little longer to eat, it's no big deal."

Slurpuff rubbed her eyes and sniffed immediately perking up. "I apologise Kai parfume. I do not know what came over my parfume." Slurpuff's eyes became fire as she rose her frying pan up triumphantly. "For now, is the time to cook a bountiful parfume that will put Berry parfume's to shame!"

Robin completely ignored Slurpuff with a clump of salad in her mouth. "Gwoo lu wii tha. (Good luck with that.)"

Flareon stared at her trainer with a look of disappointment. "Flareon Flareon Flare. (Couldn't you at least swallow before speaking.)"

As Slurpuff began cooking her families' lunch Greninja stood up and stretched. "Well not that isn't fun but I'm gonna go explore."

Kai stood up to stare down Greninja. "Greninja."

"Kai. Let me do this."

Kai crossed his arms in defiance but relented and sighed in defeat. "Fine _but_ you need to take someone with you."

Greninja sloped in disappointment "Ugh! Come on Kai! Don't do this to me, you know I can handle myself. Is this because of you saw that cave, cause if it is I solemnly swear on Talonflame's life that I won't go in there. Scout's honour."

"It's not about that Greninja. We're in a completely unknown environment, not even Miss Goodwitch or the others know much about this place. I'm just being cautious."

Greninja slouched and sighed. "Fiiine." Looking over towards his team Greninja tapped his foot in the middle of his decision making when he suddenly lit up with an idea. "So, I have to take someone?"

"Yes Greninja. You have to take someone." Kai repeated.

"Just as long as its someone."

"Yes."

"And you'll be okay with it?"

"Pretty much. Now either convince someone to go with you or sit back down."

"All right. All right. Cool your jets." Greninja walked in a circle humming to himself. "Then I'll ask… him!"

Greninja stopped in place and extended his front foot out to point at the Pokémon he wanted to accompany him. That Pokémon being-?

"Chesnaught?!" Robin turned to her starter who has a mass of spinach hanging outside his mouth as though he were a wild Milktank chewing on some grass.

Chesnaught looked at Greninja, swallowing the lump of veg held in his mouth. "Che? (Me?)"

"Do you happen to see any other Chesnaught here? Come on big lug up you get, we've got some splorin' to do." Greninja stepped forward with Robin getting in the way.

"You are not taking him with you." Robin stated harshly.

"Oh contraire. Kai told me I could take someone. He didn't specify who they came from and besides…" Greninja leaned closer to Robin's face. "Who knows if I keep speaking like this maybe he'll pick up talking easier. It was always a Mankey see Mankey do with us. So, what do you say?"

"I don't think so." Robin reinforced her hesitant opinion.

"I mean… he's not completely wrong." Kai pointed out.

"He's not?"

"I'm not?" Greninja asked at the same time as Robin. "I mean… of course I'm not."

Kai groaned. "As far as communication goes having my team talk to each other was more effective then me talking to them. And while I don't know too much about your Chesnaught I did say Greninja could take anyone so…" Kai shrugged his shoulders. "I'm okay with it."

"Seriously? Your Pokémon didn't do what you wanted and you're okay with it?" Robin shook her head. "I shouldn't even be surprised at this point."

"Well you heard my trainer come on big lug." Greninja shoved Chesnaught's shell only for him to not even budge. "Here we go. Here we go. Here we go-"

"Chesnaught. Chesnaught Chesnau. (I don't know. Robin doesn't seem happy about it.)" Chesnaught pointed out.

"She'll warm up eventually now move- GAH!"

Chesnaught suddenly got up, accidently knocking Greninja backwards onto his back. "Chesnaught Ches? (Hey where'd you go?)"

Greninja got on his four feet and shook his dazed head before looking at his team. "Shut up."

"We were not saying anything." Lucario responded.

"But you were thinking it. Especially you Aegislash!"

Aegislash huffed. "What I think of your foolishness is none of your concern Greninja."

"You know what?!"

The group all looked to Kai's Talonflame as he spread his wings. "I'm sick of this! I'm outta here!" In one flap Talonflame shot into the air where he adjusted himself, flying out into the distance.

After a moment of silence Greninja raised his front legs into the air. "Oh, come on! I have to have a buddy while Kalos Fired Chicken over there gets to go off on his own! How is that fair?!"

Kai rubbed his forehead. "It's not and I'll talk with him later. For now, though-" Kai looked over to Noivern. "Noivern would you mind following Talonflame. Just in case."

Noivern nodded. "Okay Kai. I'll try." Noivern flapped his wings and ascended up to try and keep up with his big brother.

All the while Robin and her team looked at the who scene with complete and utter befuddlement at their actions.

"Clawitzer Clawitzer. (Their crew hardly seems ship shape.)" Clawitzer commented.

"Beartic Bear. (And yet they beat us.)" Beartic reminded

"BzzzZ! BzZzzZ! BzzZzz! (Oh so they can do whatever they want but I can't! That makes me so-! So-!)" Beedrill's buzzing slowly grew in agitation

"Flareon Flare Flareon. (Do try to control your temper Beedrill.)" Flareon advised.

Beedrill's head drooped. "Bzz. (Sorry.)"

Robin stared at the ensuing discord with a painful feeling in her chest. "Do you have any control over your Pokémon?! Any at all?!"

Kai looked towards Robin. "Of course, I do. They just have very strong opinions sometimes. Where is this coming from?"

"It's-!"

A thud suddenly made the word ripple around Robin making her instinctively gasp and look behind her in shock. She just saw her Tyrantrum with his foot stamped in a different area of the ground. With her breath partially panting and her breath slowly slowing down, Kai looked at Robin struggling with a feeling he knew all too well.

"Robin are you okay?"

Robin slowly composed herself and looked back at Kai. "I'm fine. It's nothing." Looking over to Greninja and Chesnaught she finally relented. "Okay fine. You can go with Kai's Greninja. But _don't_ wander too far or stay away for too long. Got it?"

Chesnaught grinned. "Chesnaught. (Yes ma'am)."

Greninja placed his front foot on Chesnaught's back and walked with him towards the edge. "Okay big guy. Now that we're away from the wet blankets tell me… what have you always wanted to do?"

"Ches. Ches… Chesnaught! (Well. I've always… I've always wanted to throw a rock!)" Chesnaught happily answered.

Greninja blankly stared at his fellow started. "Okay but maybe think a little bigger."

"Chesnaught Ches? (Throwing a big rock?)"

Greninja slapped his front foot on his face. "Okay. How about…" Greninja leaned up and whispered something to Chesnaught, making his grin go even wider.

"Chesnaught Chesnaught! (That sounds really fun!)"

The two Pokémon walked away while Kai watched them before paying his attention on Robin eating the remainder of her lunch.

"Robin…" He murmured to himself.

* * *

A shadow rushed over the canopies of the tress below, accompanied by a warm breeze and the scattered lights from falling embers. Piercing through the air with his aerodynamic flight positioning Talonflame flew at high speeds in the summer sun.

His eyes rolled back the way he came. "You don't need to follow me Noivern."

Following his grunts came the Flying/Dragon type in question riding his tailwind. "Come on Bro. Kai told us not to go off on our own. You don't want to worry him, do you?"

Talonflame rolled his eyes back in front. "If Kai is seriously worried about me taking myself then he's the one we should be worried about. Besides this is important."

"Important? I thought you were just going for one of your regular flights." Noivern asked.

Talonflame quickly accelerated, becoming a tiny spec in Noivern's vision. Quickly getting over it, Noivern flapped his wings to give himself a boost of speed to catch up. In his view he suddenly saw Talonflame fly vertically upwards before descending at an even faster speed. Though confused, Noivern didn't slow down and followed Talonflame's flight path where he descended to find a familiar stop.

"Hey wait a minute… This is…" Noivern looked around to see a cave embedded in the cliffside in front of him, with Talonflame at its entrance. "Big bro, you're not thinking of going in, are you?"

Talonflame turned around and scoffed. "Of course I'm going in! If Kai doesn't get that item then we fail! And I'm not gonna fail just because Kai's too skittish to enter some stupid hole." Talonflame grumbled as he faced the ground. "It took him a whole week on Route 7 to psych himself up to enter Connecting Cave. And we don't have time for that!"

"But he said we can't go in there." Noivern reminded.

"So I tell him I found the item while flying around. What Kai doesn't know won't hurt him."

"I don't know. Normally when Kai tells us not to do something its for a good reason." Noivern nervously looked down.

Talonflame groaned. "Look, I don't care what you or Kai think. I am going in that cave and I am getting that item!"

Turning faced his back to Noivern and spread his wings to prepare himself to go in. Nervously inching forward step by step Noivern made his way closer. "Um… Bro…"

Talonflame gave an annoyed grunt. "What is it?!"

Noivern flinched, hiding behind his wings. "Well it's just… Kai told me to follow you and well… I can navigate the dark easily… so…"

Talonflame sighed, flying on ahead. "You want to follow me, go ahead. I'm not gonna try and stop you."

Noivern witnessed Talonflame flying in and slowly uncurled himself. Spreading his own wings and flying into the cave, he opened his mouth slightly and emitted a high frequency noise that rebounded off the surrounding environment creating a sonar view of the cave. Hearing Talonflame's wingbeat up ahead he saw an outline of his figure. The embers from Talonflame body fell to the ground to momentarily light up the ground floor. Round boulders littered the edges of the cave that made odd cracking sounds as Noivern passed making him look back momentarily. Unaware to it all, Talonflame continued his flight unimpeded as he flew around a corner, squinting his eyes to scan the dark area until eventually a smirk formed on his beak. Flying down to the ground he flapped rapidly to slow himself down until he was just above the ground where the item was in front of him; a jagged orange crystal that looked as if it broke off a separate rock surface.

Talonflame picked the gem up in his talon and inspected it with a rough hum. A sudden gust of wind ruffled Talonflame's plumage to the side signalling Noivern's arrival.

"Is that it?" Noivern asked.

"Yeah this is it? Why Kai didn't think we could do this I have no idea." Talonflame remarked, stuffing the gem inside his feathery chest as a held item. "Come on, let's get out of here. This place is too cramped for me."

" **…** "

Talonflame and Noivern prepared to leave when Noivern suddenly paused. His ears twitched and rotated in place making Noivern anxiously look around his surroundings. "Bro, do you hear that?"

"With your ears you hear everything. Stop worrying and come on!" Talonflame flew away at high speeds, leaving Noivern alone in the dark.

"Bro wait! Don't leave!" Noivern's cry fell on deaf ears as he looked around.

" **…hoooo…** "

The mysterious raspy sounds echoed in Noivern's ear drums. Noivern shifted his feet while rotating his head to get a view of his surroundings but no matter what Noivern couldn't trace the sound.

" **…aaaaa…** "

Starting to panic Noivern ascended upwards and made his way back to the entrance, wishing to leave as soon as possible. Turning around the corner he left the cave in isolation and loneliness.

" **…earrr…** "

Cracking came from the sides of the walls as odd figures began to move. Among them in the pitch-black distance, a glowing blue light suddenly appeared. Partially revealing a phantom-like silhouette that looked in the direction Noivern went.

" **…hmmm…** "

* * *

In one section of the plateaux the afternoon summer sun raised overhead heated the ground over it like it was an oven. Heat lines formed in the air and bare rock became too hot to touch as Ruby Rose started to wilt from the intense rays.

"Phew… it's so hot…" Ruby sighed rubbing sweat of her forehead. "How long have we been out here?"

Weiss pulled her scroll out and stared at its face. "Just over three and a half hours."

Ruby collapsed onto the ground moaning. "Uuu~gh."

Weiss shook her head at her partner's current attitude when the sound of footsteps crunching in the ground alerted her to her teammates returning. "Did you get it?"

Yang gave a thumbs up with one hand and raised a clear bag filled with dry earth in another. "Yup. One bag of oddly specific dirt. That's another one off the list."

"How many do we have left to get?" Blake groaned.

Weiss pressed on her scroll to get the list back up. "Only… thirty-two more things."

Ruby moaned more loudly on the ground. "Life's so cruel…"

"Maybe we should call it a day. We already missed a chunk of the today getting here, maybe tomorrow we'll be better rested and get more done." Blake suggested.

"Already? But we haven't even got half of the list yet." Weiss complained.

"What do you think Ruby?" Yang looked toward her sister who seemed to be succumbing to the heat in exhaustion. "…I think we have our answer."

Weiss dropped her arms in defeat. "Fine. We'll head back to camp, perhaps as a team we can plan a strategy for tomo-" A jet of water crashed from the sky behind Weiss, forcing her back. "Where did that come from?!"

Yang leaned forward, noticing white vapour blowing outwards from the stream. "Is that steam? I know it's hot out but it's not boiling."

"Make waaaayy~!"

The scalding water became thicker and more pressurised as a thin figure fell further and further down from the sky at high speeds. Eventually the water suddenly stopped pouring and a blue amphibian figure landed on four feet.

"Uugh~ nailed it…" Greninja croaked as he picked his front feet of the ground and began blowing on them.

Ruby leaned up and saw the Ninja with a confused expression. "Greninja?"

Greninja looked around to see Ruby. "Ruby?" Looking around further he saw Weiss, Blake and Yang beside her. "Oh Team RWBY? Wassup girls? Random question have any of you seen a large armoured hedgehog?"

"A what?" Weiss uttered in confusion.

The earth quaked under everyone's feet. The sounds of the ground cracking open grated against everyone's hearing as their attention was drawn towards a certain Pokémon shaped silhouette hole in the ground.

"Never mind. I think I found him." Greninja leaped over to the hole while the other girls remained in shock. "Chesnaught. Buddy. You, uh… you doing okay there pal?"

Chesnaught's long arm reached out and grabbed the edge of the hole, followed by him doing the same on the other side. He grunted as he pulled himself up so his upper body was visible above ground. Shaking his head rapidly in place while making a blubbering sound and smacking his lips.

"Ches! Chesnaught! (Yeah! Let's do that again!)" Chesnaught cheered.

"See! I told you it'd be fun! Up top!" Greninja raised his front foot up for a high-five. Chesnaught went to slap it with one of his arms, only for the rock under his other arm to snap off due to his weight, resulting in him falling back into the hole. "Whoops."

From behind him Team RWBY stared at the starter duo, attempting to process what had just happened to them. Ruby managed to stand up and brush herself off maintaining a confused look on her face.

"So Greninja. Why did you just fall out of the sky?" Ruby asked.

Greninja turned around to face the team. "Oh that? Funny story."

* * *

 _Several minutes ago…_

 _Greninja pressed down on a tensely pulled back tree held down by a large rock. "That should work. You ready up there?"_

 _Sitting on top of said rock, Chesnaught quizzically looked at Greninja. "Chesnaught? Chesnaught Ches. (You sure about this? Something tells me Robin wouldn't like it.)"_

 _"And that's how you know it's gonna be fun. Now make room." Greninja hopped onto the rock and prepared a singe Water Shuriken in his front foot. "Preparing for lift off in threetwoonego!"_

 _Greninja threw the shuriken, breaking a chunk of the rock off and propelling the two high into the air in an instant. The two Pokémon began floating up off the rock due to air resistance and stretched themselves outwards to take in the thrill of falling._

 _"Woo hoo! Yeah! Take that Talonflame! Guess who's flying now!" Greninja cheered._

 _"Ches! Chesnaught! Chesnaught! (Yeah! That take off was so fun! I can't wait to see how we land!)"_

 _Greninja's eyes suddenly widened. "Right. Land… I have made a terrible mistake. WAHHH!"_

 _"CHESSSS~! (WOOOO~!)"_

* * *

"And so, since my body was more aerodynamic, I fell faster. I used Scald to slow me down and here we are. Once again proving that I am never wrong." Greninja concluded while behind him, Chesnaught managed to pull his upper body back up.

"What happened to the boulder?" Yang asked.

The ground boomed and cracked once again behind them. Quickly looking behind them, they saw the boulder lying on top of the hole Chesnaught was crawling out of.

Greninja blinked. "He'll be fine."

"Well quite frankly I'm surprised you have the time to mess around. I would have thought as his part of his family you would be helping Kai right now." Weiss chided.

"What? You mean that dumb list. We finished that ages ago."

Team RWBY crowded Greninja. "YOU DID?!"

"Well technically Kai's missing one but he knows where it is. He just needs to psych himself up to get it. His hat or caves I can understand his language but not his aversions. Now can you all back off." Greninja pushed the four teenagers away.

"But how could you have gotten them all so quickly?" Weiss asked.

Greninja shrugged. "Eh. We're Pokémon and Trainers, navigating the wild is what we do."

Blake stepped forward. "So, since you're finished what will you do now?"

"I don't know probably chill for a bit. To be honest Kai probably needs it, between stressing over schoolwork and having to deal with little miss cranky roommate he could use a break."

"So you're not even going to try and ask to go back to Beacon?"

"That's really more of Kai's call really. Don't know why he would though, this place is pretty nice compared to the rest of your world. No offence."

"But don't you think you could be doing something more productive. More important than just wasting your time stuck here in the middle of nowhere?" Blake persisted.

"Where's this coming from?"

Blake looked at Greninja before walking around him. "I'll see the rest of you later. I'm going to look around a bit longer."

"Wait a sec Blake!" Ruby cried out to her teammate.

Unfortunately, Blake had already pulled out her weapon and configured it into a pistol. Grabbing tightly on the ribbon she threw it so that it snagged onto the treeline. Running to the snagged tree she quickly ran along it to climb upwards before jumping from tree top to tree top far into the distance.

"Guess there's more than one little miss cranky roommate." Greninja remarked.

"Blake…" Ruby repeated sadly.

Yang walked up to her sister and put her hand on her shoulder. "Come on Ruby we should get going."

Ruby turned around and sadly nodded, beginning to walk away with the remaining members of her team. Greninja looked at the scene and sighed to himself in empathy, when his ears picked up the sound of cracking behind himself. Slowly turning around he saw the boulder forming a myriad of cracks along its surface that grew and connected into each other, when the rock suddenly exploded in a shower of dust and pebbles.

"Ches…Ches…" Chesnaught mindlessly panted from below.

Stretching both his arms out he once again pulled his body up, this time managing to get himself completely out of the hole. Rotating his head in place to crack his neck and rolled his shoulders backwards, before Chesnaught grinned and punched his fist into an open palm.

"Ches. Chesnau? (Right. What'd I miss?)" He grinned in obliviousness.

* * *

A bold orange colour blanketed the sky as the long first day was finally coming to an end. At this point all Huntsman teams across the first year had returned to the campsite, each having collected a different number of items that were currently stored in crates held aboard the airships. Scattered over the camp site were dozens upon dozens of set-up tents to hold each team. From one of the tents emerged a reluctant trainer preparing to sleep.

"Alright, I'm finished. You can use the tent." Robin told Kai, dressed in a white sleeveless pyjama top and baby blue pyjama shorts along with keeping her bandages on her arms. "I still can't believe we have to share one. A dorm is bad enough."

She stared in front of her to see Kai dabbing Slurpuff's eyes with a tissue. "Thanks Robin, just give me a sec."

Robin took several steps in her bare feet towards the two. "Is your Slurpuff still crying?"

"I'm not sure it is crying, not in the conventional sense. Maybe there's something in the air that's irritating her eyes?" Kai guessed.

"Do not worry about my parfume. I am sure in time this parfume will diffuse into nothing." Slurpuff comforted.

"Well if you're sure then I might as well return you for now. Thanks for all your hard work today Slurpuff." Pulling out her Pokéball from his belt, Kai returned Slurpuff and headed away from the camp.

"You're not getting changed?" Robin noticed.

Kai reached into his jean pocket and pulled out the orange crystal Talonflame picked up. "Just gonna out this with the rest of my items. Pretty lucky that Talonflame managed to find one during his flight."

"Did he say where he got it from?" Robin inquired.

"I think he found it in some gorge or something on the tops of the cliffs here. Makes me appreciate having two flying types. Either way I'll be back in a minute."

Kai headed off towards the airships getting watched by Robin who only sighed and shook her head. "How naive can one guy get?"

Making his way to the airships he noticed that walking out of Beacon's was Goodwitch, holding her large tablet scroll in her hands.

"Twenty-eight items from Team RWBY… Eighteen items from Team CRDL… Thirty items from Team JNPR … and Kai Emblem obtaining forty-nine-"

"Fifty!" Kai interrupted, startling Goodwitch. "Um, sorry. But it's fifty now, I've got the last item here see?"

Holding the orange gem outwards, Goodwitch eyed the listed item before looking back at her scroll. "Well go on then. Don't let me updating your record hold you up."

Kai nodded and walked past Goodwitch to store his item with the others as she hovered over Kai's picture and ticked a box to mark Kai's list as complete. Kai's profile was then linked with Robin's, and Goodwitch looked at the pair of profile pictures, while narrowed her eyes in concentration.

 _"Already?" Goodwitch spoke in the past._

 _"Is that a problem?" Robin asked, having finished recounting Goodwitch how she collected all of her items._

 _"No. It shouldn't be but… you are the first team, or rather student to have collected everything on the first day. Let alone in the span of a single hour."_

 _"I wanted to do this as soon as possible and I did. Now if you haven't got anything else to say to me, I'll be heading back to my camp since apparently I don't even have a choice in staying here or not." Robin remarked as she walked off back to her site._

Back in the present Goodwitch looked away from her scroll to see Kai already heading back to his and Robin's shared tent, her thoughts sent adrift. _'Dozens of teams and over a hundred students from the four largest Huntsman academies in the world. And those two were the first to complete it by a significant margin.'_

* * *

Meanwhile sitting in their own set up camps, Team JNPR and the remainder of Team RWY were currently sat together roasting marshmallows over a camp fire. Nora had heated hers up to a brown gloopy mess that she happily put in her mouth whole, chomping on its sticky goodness.

"Waa a dae! (What a day!)" Nora swallowed her marshmallow. "Aah Ren, doesn't this bring you back to the good old days."

"Not really." Ren calmly answered taking a bite out of his marshmallow, humming at its surprisingly delectably taste.

"Well I quite enjoyed our outing today. How way yours?" Pyrrha innocently asked Team RWY.

Unfortunately, the three of them were hardly in a talkative mood. Ruby was stuffing marshmallows in her mouth straight from the bag, puffing her cheeks up like a Dedenne with cheek pouch. Yang was wistfully looking outwards towards the wild of the plateaux waiting for her partner to return from her individual exploration. Leaving Weiss, the one closest to reality as she exhaustedly looked towards Pyrrha and her team, lifting up the stick containing her charred black marshmallow.

"Not great." Weiss deadpanned throwing her stick into the fire, making embers erupt.

"Oh, come on it couldn't be that bad." Jaune kindly pointed out.

"We had to wake up ridiculously early. It's been ludicrously hot. We spent hours to collect less than half of the required items. And then our teammate ran away from us. _Again_."

Ruby popped another marshmallow in her mouth when her eyes became white circles that bulged out of her head as she fell on her side. Holding onto her throat, she struggled to swallow as she began to choke on her gelatinous filled treats making her face go red.

"Shouldn't you help her?" Ren suggested.

Yang got up. "Don't worry I've got it."

Walking up to her sister, Yang picked Ruby up and gave her a powerful smack on her back making Ruby shoot her marshmallow at bullet like speeds, hitting some random student in the back of the head to knock them to the ground.

"And now out leader almost choked herself." Weiss added to the list.

"Well don't let it get you down. Tomorrow is another day after all." Pyrrha comforted. "And at least one of your troubles look like it's going to end."

Confused by what Pyrrha meant, no one noticed Blake appearing behind them and slowly going into her team's tent.

"Hey there Blake!" Nora announced to the group, directing everyone's attention to her.

Blake closed her eyes and inwardly groaned at being discovered. Taking a quick breath, she opened her eyes and turned around to face her teammates and friends. "Oh. Hi guys~"

Weiss quickly stood up. "And where have you been?! I get that brooding and having your own space is your thing. But out here we're meant to be sticking together, at least tell me you were doing something important."

"I was… I was trying to find a scroll signal."

"Seriously? That's what you went out for?" Yang asked in disbelief.

"Um… did you find one?" Jaune asked only to be judgementally looked at by his team. "What? If she found a signal we might as well use it."

Blake shook her head. "I wasn't able to, unfortunately."

"So not only did you go off without us. You completely wasted your time." Weiss judged.

"Well it was better than sitting around a campfire doing nothing." Blake argued.

Ruby quickly stood between the two. "Alright guys. We've all had a long, _long_ day. But let's not end it on a sour note. Come on guys, let's just shake hands and make up."

"I'm not apologising to someone acting completely unreasonable." Weiss defiantly stated.

"Me either." Blake stepped away, walking inside her teams' tent.

Weiss crossed her arms and turned away while Team JNPR looked awkwardly away. Ruby sat down and bowed her head in defeat while Yang looked around to see Kai happily walking back to his own tent to get changed for the night.

"Guess this is what karma feels like." Yang bitterly admitted.

* * *

The sun had set over the mountains creating a thin line of orange dividing where the sky ended and the dark majesty of space began. Stars began sparkling overheard alongside the shattered moon that Remnant was known for. Staring outwards from inside the tent Kai looked up to feel the immensity of it all, dressed in his pyjamas.

"Do you think our world is actually one of those stars out there?" Kai asked as he focused on one of the bright shining celestial bodies.

Behind him Robin moved around in her sleeping bag to get comfy. "What does it matter if it is? It's not like we can get there from here, Dust doesn't work when it gets too close to the atmosphere."

Kai stared back to see her. "Well look at you starting to learn things."

"Don't patronise me. Just hurry up and get to sleep, I've already had more than enough talking from you today."

"Alright, alright I'll be quiet but still just being here… doesn't it remind you of Kalos even a little bit?" Kai asked Robin more personally as he got into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes.

Robin groaned, rolling over again. "Not really. No shut up and go to sleep already."

"Alright Robin… good night…" Kai yawned as he quickly drifted off.

Robin prepared to follow suit but couldn't when a sudden draft blew over her drowsy head, making her shiver.

"Great. He forgot to zip up the front." Robin grumbled as she removed herself from her bag and crawled to the front.

She paused for a moment to look out at the calm serene night the plateaux had to offer and at the night sky that in this lightless environment, began to show more and more colours and vastness then what was possible in the Kingdom. It was enough to make Robin think on Kai's words, was Earth and Kalos somewhere up there? The though lit a small hope in Robin before quickly brushing it off and pulling the zip up to close off the outside.

When the tent was fully closed off, it joined the others in complete seclusion and silence. Other groups such as Team JNPR, Team SSSN, Team CRDL and more were all already fast asleep. In her own private quarters Goodwitch took off her glasses and mentally steadied herself as her own tiredness overcame her. And outside it all from the jungle, and the cliffs a sole black figure approached. Cloaked in shadows and moving as silently as a ghost it observed the camp grounds. Watching it all with a glowing blue eye.

* * *

 _Robin was slowly walking forward across an ethereal mindscape. An abstract environment in the back of her mind._

 _"Where… am I? Why is this so… familiar?" She spoke softly to herself._

 _In a flash her entire world was consumed by shadow, the light so poor that she could hardly see her own arms. A glow appeared in front of her being hidden off from view by a raven-haired figure blocking it and eclipsing Robin in their shadow._

 _"You?! Wait is this-?!"_

 _But before Robin could continue, she felt her body moving backwards against her will, her feet ran as quickly as they could but seemed unable to cling to the surface._

 _"No! Wait! I'm going to catch up to you! And when I do, I'll-!"_

 _And intense growl came from behind Robin making her gasp. She turned to a sight that made her eyes widen in shear horror. An army of Grimm all being led by the Beowolf that scarred her for life._

 _"No… No not again…Ugh!" Robin suddenly felt intense searing pain from her arms._

 _Looking down she saw that the bandages over them had disappeared revealing long deep cuts that tore through her muscle, that bled over her arms and dripped onto the ground._

 _Struggling to think she went for a Pokéball only for her pouch to be missing. She gasped out loud and struggled to think when she looked around and froze in fright. Lying down on the ground were all six of her Pokémon. Dead._ _All but two. Her Beartic and her Flareon. Their eyes opened to reveal blank lifeless stares as that stared into their trainer's soul._

 _"You failed us…and used us…" Beartic moaned._

 _"You left us…and killed us…" Flareon continued._

 _Robin stared at her Pokémon with a horrified face, twisted and distorted by grief. "I… I'm sorry! It… It was a moment of weakness! I-!"_

 _"You weren't strong enough Robin! You've never been strong enough!" The two of them chanted together._

 _"No! I… I…" Robin struggled to find the words. Her heart beated faster and faster as the Grimm began to surround her with claws raised and teeth bared._

 _And in front of them all was that raven-haired silhouette laughing at her. His laughing became more and more malicious as a single glowing blue eye appeared on the left of their face._

 _A Beowolf claw raised its claw over Robin's trembling frame and slashed it down. Creating a splatter of blood._

* * *

Robin woke up with a start and shrieked, pulling onto her hair and sitting upright in her sleeping bag. Her breath was fast and short as she looked around and slowly realised that she was in her tent. She let got of her hair and stared at her bandaged arms and then at her Pokéball pouch attached to her belt on the edge of the structure.

"It was that dream again but… it's never been that intense before." Robin slowly regained a grip on her senses and controlled her breathing. She could hear the sound of growing unhinged breath but quickly realised it wasn't hers.

She looked over to the bag next to her and gaped. Kai laid in his bed shivering with horror. Sweat poured from his pores in a greater amount then all the hours he had spent in the sun combined. His breaths were hard to describe as that, he would get halfway when they would form a gasp or get stuck in his throat giving him the appearance that he was suffocating. And though hard to tell, underneath his eyes mixed in with the sweat was tears.

Not knowing what came over her, Robin urgently went over to Kai's side and began tapping his cheek. "Wake up Kai! Wake up! It's not real! You're just dreaming so just wake up already!"

Robin's results were in vain as her touch only seemed to make Kai close himself off more and more, worsening his condition. Staring at her fellow trainer Robin's mind went blank at his distress until she had a brainwave. Quickly scurrying over to Kai's side of the tent he grabbed his Pokéball belt and began making her way through each of the capsules.

"Come on, come on… This one!" Robin yanked one off and unlocked it before sending the Pokémon out in a flash.

"Slurpuff Slurpuff Slurp? (What is the meaning of this parfume?)" Slurpuff yawned too relaxed to properly speak in human tongue. She sniffed the air and immediately caught a whiff of sweat and fear as she became alert to the jittering Kai next to her. "Kai Parfume!" Slurpuff urgently went over to Kai's face. "Calm your parfume! Please Kai parfume!"

Kai turned his head to Slurpuff where he took a small breath the air around her, which was more than enough for him open his eyes wide and take a massive gasp of air.

Kai continued to shiver as Robin cautiously made his way towards her. "Kai?"

Kai immediately turned his head to Robin making her gasp as, he looked at her with illuminate blue eyes. "…Ro…bin…" He managed to utter in between breaths.

Putting his hand on his head Kai began to groan in discomfort. "The screams… The screams won't stop…"

Robin quickly went over to Kai. "There's no screams Kai. You just had a bad dream. Don't worry, it's over now."

Kai shook his head. "No… There's so many… From the others…"

"The others?"

While Robin tried to understand what Kai was saying, Slurpuff sniffed the air and made her way to the front of the tent to undo the zip. With the front open the night was in full view, but instead of deathly silence came bloodcurdling screams. From every tent, and every team, came cries of despair.

All of their howls echoed all over the plateaux and filled the night.

* * *

 **Boom! One last chapter before the end of the decade. Sorry if those last scenes came as too much of a shock.**

 **So the first day of the trip is up and now everyone knows just how the Plateaux got its name. I'm sure many of you can already guess the reason I'm not exactly being subtle here. But just because you know part of the truth doesn't mean you understand everything.**

 **Also while I don't always have in-head voices for the Pokémon. As I've mentioned before Noivern's to me is like Chip from Sonic Unleashed. And on Robin's side I consider Chesnaught to have a similar voice to Grog Strongjaw from Critical Role, and Flareon to sound like Rachael Alucard from BlazBlue. Of course its perfectly fine if you have your own in-head voice for these characters.**

 **So until I see you all in the next decade, this is Kallerston signing out!**


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